id: 166886 accession number: 2009.130 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2009.130 updated: 2024-03-26 02:01:13.649000 Soldier with Upraised Arm, c. 1870. Ernest Meissonier (French, 1815–1891). Graphite; sheet: 29.3 x 19.1 cm (11 9/16 x 7 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2009.130 title: Soldier with Upraised Arm title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1870 creation date earliest: 1865 creation date latest: 1875 current location: creditline: Bequest of Muriel Butkin copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: graphite department: Drawings collection: DR - French type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Ernest Meissonier (French, 1815–1891) - artist Ernest Meissonier had little formal or institutional artistic training, having studied only briefly in Cogniet's (q.v.) studio. Meissonier began his career making woodcuts for book illustrations, which must have served his craftsmanship and influenced his tendency toward working in a small format. From the beginning he was inspired by seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish genre painters, as attested by his first Salon painting, Dutch Burghers (1834, Wallace Collection, London). His subjects would eventually have a more typical French flavor, representing artists, musicians, or members of the bourgeoisie involved in leisurely activities, and mostly in eighteenth-century settings. Meissonier joined the French army during the Austro-Italian War (1859), after which he frequently painted military scenes, such as Napoleon III at Solferino (1863, Musée National du Château de Compiègne). Along with the many small depictions of the soldier's life, Meissonier also produced some military paintings on a grand scale. Such works were his attempt to make history paintings and served to counter the criticism that his subjects were frivolous. His military paintings culminated in a partly finished project of four large canvases depicting events in Napoleon I's military career that occupied him from 1864 through 1876. But no matter the size or subject of his paintings, they were always meticulously executed. The Franco-Prussian War also inspired some important works, such as Ruins of the Tuileries (1871, Musée National du Château de Compiègne). Meissonier's work was extremely popular with the upwardly mobile mercantile elite who appreciated his craftsmanship. Criticism came from artists like Degas (q.v.) and Manet (q.v.), who advocated a more Courbet-like realism, addressing contemporary issues rather than painting idealized reflections of the past. Meissonier led the jury that excluded Courbet (q.v.) from the Salon of 1872 because of his involvement in the Paris Commune in 1871. Yet in 1889 Meissonier was also involved in founding the more progressive artist's organization and exhibitions of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts that seceded from the traditional Société des Artistes Français. Meissonier received many honors and was the first artist to be promoted to the grand croix, the highest rank of the Legion of Honor (1899). --- measurements: Sheet: 29.3 x 19.1 cm (11 9/16 x 7 1/2 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: cream wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: inscribed in graphite, lower left: "E. M." translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art opening date: 2012-09-26T00:00:00 Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art. Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (organizer) (September 2-December 2, 2012). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN (8/26/2012 - 11/15/2012): "Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art", ex. cat. no. 56, p. 168-169.', 'opening_date': '2012-08-26T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Estate of Muriel Butkin date: 2008 footnotes: citations: Estate of Muriel Butkin date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2009.130/2009.130_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2009.130/2009.130_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2009.130/2009.130_full.tif