Maxime Dethomas
Maxime-Pierre Jules Dethomas (; October 13, 1867 – January 21, 1929) was a French painter, draughtsman, printmaker, illustrator, and was among the best known theater-set and costume designers of his era. As an artist, Dethomas was highly regarded by his contemporaries and exhibited widely, both within France and abroad. He was a regular contributor to the "Impressionistes et Symbolistes", and a founding committee member of the "Salon d'Automne". In 1912, he was awarded the "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur" for his contributions to French art. During the latter part of his career, he is remembered for his work  overseeing set and costume design for the "Théâtre des Arts" and the Paris Opera. His works appear in many important national collections, including the Musée d'Orsay, the Hermitage Museum and the National Gallery of Art. A large collection of his theatrically related work is held at the "Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra National de Paris". Dethomas is also remembered for his close friendship with the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, his brother in-law Ignacio Zuloaga and his association with "Les Nabis" and other important Post-Impressionist and Symbolist artists and writers. Dethomas died in 1929 at the age of 61 , and was buried at the Passy Cemetery, Paris. Early life and formal education. Born in the Paris suburb of Garges-lès-Gonesse in 1867, Maxime Dethomas was the eldest of six children, including four half-siblings. His family came from a long line of painter-printers on one side, and lawyers on the other. His father, Jean-Albert Dethomas (1842–1891), was an important Parisian politician and lawyer. His mother, Laure-Elizabeth Antoinette Béchet, died at the age of 27 in 1874. His step mother, Marie Louise Thierrée, belonged to the affluent middle-class of Bordeaux. During 1885, Dethomas first met  Augustine Bulteau (1860-1922), matriarch of the Parisian arts community and one-time wife of prominent author and playwright, Jules Ricard (1848-1903). Bulteau would go on to become a pivotal figure in his life, helping him navigate a difficult relationship with his father, guiding his academic direction and encouraging his development as an artist. Each year, Dethomas would take extended breaks at Bulteau's estates in Léry and Venice - trips that would feature prominently in his art. In 1887, Dethomas enrolled at the "École des Arts Décoratifs" at which he studied briefly, preferring instead to pass much of his  time at the bookshop of the "Revue Indépendante", a favourite haunt of young artists and writers run by Édouard Dujardin. It was here that he first met Louis Anquetin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. It is an often repeated, yet erroneous claim that Dethomas' relationship with Toulouse-Lautrec was one of master and student - at least in the formal sense of the term - though their shared experiences and mutual respect for each other as artists was of undeniable consequence. In an 1898 letter, Dethomas reflected on Toulouse-Lautrec's art: The things I see by him always give me an  intense desire to work. The things of this boy, who, if he has no talent, certainly has a little genius, are always for me a whiplash [coup de fouet]. It's as if I was shown the way with a sudden invitation to advance. The master paintings do not give me that, we are stupefied with admiration. We are blocked, discouraged, after them we are let down, we are in prison. Disgruntled with his experiences at the "École des Arts Décoratifs", Dethomas began taking informal instruction at the private workshop of the young master, Henri Gervex. In 1888, Gervex began  his tenure as instructor at "l'Académie Libre" on "rue Verniquet" - Dethomas applied and was accepted, continuing his formal education under Gervex. During this period, Dethomas became firm friends with fellow Gervex student and future brother-in-law, Ignacio Zuloaga. Through Dethomas, Zuloaga gained entrée into French artistic circles; reciprocally, Zuloaga introduced Dethomas to other Spanish expatriate artists, including the so-called Catalan Band: Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, and Miquel Utrillo. The final phase of Dethomas' formal education commenced from 1891 onwards, where he followed a more varied course at the "Académie de La Palette", 104 Boulevard de Clichy, Montmartre, under  Henri Gervex, Puvis de Chavannes and Eugène Carrière. Carrière's tutelage played a significant role in the early development of Dethomas' art, and he would go on to be a close friend of both the artist and his family. Art. Dethomas' early style owes most to the influence of Carrière and Degas, whilst later works tend more towards that of Toulouse-Lautrec, Anquetin and Forain. Dethomas claimed that his inspiration was guided by artists of earlier generations, particularly Goya, Delacroix and Manet, but his individuality of style ensured he would "not be influenced in his work by any methods or  thoughts other than his own". In 1905, influential critic Louis Vauxcelles praised Dethomas as a "shrewd and penetrating observer" that captured his subjects "with a powerful sobriety". He realised vigorous drawings, and some few oil paintings, showing portraits, cafe scenes, and urban landscapes of Italy and Spain. He primarily worked with broad strokes in conté, graphite, charcoal and pastel, often enhanced by watercolour and the masterful use of the spatter brush, with drizzles and sprays of gouache reminiscent of Lautrec lithographs. From the late 1890s, he drew inspiration from Japanese prints - said to have been introduced to him by Toulouse -Lautrec - and developed a bold xylographic style which lent itself to woodcut reproduction. Like many of his contemporaries, Dethomas explored various artistic mediums, including book illustrations, posters and print making. By 1895, he was designing programmes for Lugné-Poe's "Théâtre de l'Œuvre" and exhibition and advertising posters with print makers such as Edward Ancourt, Eugène Verneau and Auguste Clot. With his drawings engraved by Léon Pichon and Emile Gasperini, he illustrated close to thirty books by many prominent authors including Maurice Donnay and Octave Mirbeau. Dethomas engaged models from both within his social circle, as well as otherwise unremarkable  characters from urban life, searching out peculiarities of appearance that betrayed the social facades of the fin de siècle. Having cut ties with his bourgeois pretensions during an 1891 move to Montmartre, Dethomas followed in the footsteps of his mentors, hungry to find authentic expression of the human condition amongst the daily struggles of the urban poor. "His characters are all scoundrels", joked Degas. Two such 'scoundrels' would go on to lead remarkable lives, in no small part due to their association with Dethomas. Then artist's model Suzanne Desprès became romantically involved with Dethomas in June, 1894, and continued  to feature prominently in his art for some years, later becoming a famous actress and wife of theater director Lugné-Poe. Prior to meeting Picasso in 1904, Fernande Olivier would also model for Dethomas with some regularity, her memoirs painting a vivid picture of her time in Dethomas' studio: Degas, an avid supporter of Dethomas, spoke highly of his work asserting "it has weight". Described by Philippe Berthelot as ""le meilleur fils de Degas"", Dethomas nonetheless exhibited sparingly during the 1890s. Contemporary accounts suggest a "supercilious modesty prevented him from over-exhibiting his work though no artists merchant forbade him . In a letter written by Lautrec in the summer of 1895 to Joseph Ricci, Lautrec refers to Dethomas as his dear friend and compliments him as a painter who doesn’t talk about his paintings, something that is to be admired". Despite his early reluctance to exhibit, he participated in some of the most significant exhibitions of the 1890s. His first solo exhibition in 1900 marked a turning point in his willingness to accept notoriety, leading to considerable accolades and public recognition. Dethomas' art passed through the hands of many prominent art dealers including Jos Hessel, Galerie Durand-Ruel and  Galerie Druet. Consequently, many of his works were acquired by influential collectors including Olivier Sainsère and Sergei Shchukin. Dethomas is also known to have had his works framed by the frame-maker Pierre Cluzel (1850–1894), and his successor, Louis Vivien. In 1912, Dethomas was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur for his contributions to French art. Theatre. From 1910 to 1913, Dethomas worked under Jacques Rouché during his tenure at the "Théâtre des Arts". Upon assuming management of the theater, Rouché enlisted the talents of several artists who had contributed to his magazine, "La Grande Revue", including Jacques Dresa , René Piot and Maxime Dethomas, none of which had previously worked for the stage. As director of the "services plastiques", Dethomas embarked on a career that would last for the remainder of his life. The "Théâtre des Arts" represented a major shift away from facile acting, shallow content and the painted-canvas drawing rooms of commercial theater that were the norm. The inaugural production, "Le Carnaval des Enfants" (1910), marked a major theatrical revolution by which Dethomas' settings accentuated line and colour, rather than a focus on painted detail and endless props. Against blue, ochre, grey and steel, black costumed  characters created striking pictorial compositions in lighting effects that "varied like inflections in a conversation". The "Théâtre des Arts" went on to present nearly twenty plays, including Jacques Copeau's adaptation of "The Brothers Karamazov" (1911), and the stage production of "La Tragédie de Salomé" (1912), both a popular and critical success. Dethomas' reputation as a set and costume designer was such that by early 1912, he was commissioned by the British aristocracy to design a set and costumes for a London masked ball with some two thousand guests. Hired to direct and decorate at the Paris Opera in 1914 , Rouché and Dethomas went on to offer fresh interpretation of old material and to make inroads into stale scenic convention. By 1917, Dethomas was also designing sets and costumes for the "Comédie Française"; the "Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt" in 1919; the "Théâtre Femina" and "Le Trianon" in 1920; and the "Opéra-Comique" in 1926 as it celebrated Manuel de Falla's 50th birthday. With a program consisting of "La Vida Breve", "El Amor Brujo", and Master Peter's Puppet Show, Falla's close friend Ignacio Zuloaga and Dethomas collaborated to create sets and marionettes. During his seventeen years in the theatre , Dethomas was artistic designer for over fifty plays, ballets and operas, featuring many of the era's most notable actors, dancers, singers, playwrights and composers, including Roussel, Stravinsky and Ravel. In his colour schemes Dethomas used visual analogy paired with the play-writer's thematic intent, "the progression of each scene following perfectly the progression of the drama". Dethomas once wrote that above all else decor should be a good servant of the play and that a designer must get beyond a "painterly feel" to something more solid. Guillaume Apollinaire declared that Dethomas' influence on French Theatre had "transformed the  art of scenery, costume design and staging." Associations. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. During 1887 Dethomas began frequenting the library-bookshop of the "Revue Indépendante", a favorite haunt of young artists and writers, in which he first befriended Louis Anquetin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Their friendship blossomed – so much so, that Dethomas would go on to become Toulouse-Lautrec's "favourite companion" and "closest friend". Always drawn to physical eccentricity, Toulouse-Lautrec nicknamed the 6'6" Dethomas " 'Gros n'abre' " (roughly: "Big Tree"), for his imposing height and dead-pan face; Thadée Natanson described him as a gentle giant, polished and discreet  – "He was so frightened of wearing anything that might draw attention to himself that even the black of his clothes seemed duller than that worn by others." Dethomas' placidity, corpulence and extreme shyness - he always blushed when he had to raise his voice - endeared him to Toulouse-Lautrec. Paul Leclercq claimed that Lautrec was fascinated by Dethomas' "ability to preserve an impassive appearance even in a place of amusement". Whilst much has been made of the comical dynamic of their friendship, Toulouse-Lautrec also derived an element of utility from his companion. Calm and seemingly distant, Dethomas generally walked through  life a discreet and unassuming character. However, when he accompanied Toulouse-Lautrec, their contrasting heights invariably attracted attention, the bowler hat of the little man barely reaching Maxime's elbow. Yet the jeers stopped at the quiet strength of "Gros n'arbre". Contemporaries, like Gustave Coquiot, bear witness to this: "Lautrec loved Maxime Dethomas very much. This tall and strong fellow towered over him. With him, he felt under real protection. When together in the street, Lautrec never heard any ridicule. Dethomas, impassive and cold, always muzzled the crowd." Philippe Berthelot recalled that Toulouse-Lautrec playfully attributed his companion super-human  strength and would loudly declare with mock seriousness that Dethomas "could have anyone's hide at his leisure!". In the first days of 1891, Dethomas moved to an apartment at 8, Cité Pigalle, Montmartre - selected no-less for its proximity to the workshop of Eugène Carrière, than to that of his friends Toulouse-Lautrec and the photographer Paul Sescau. They lived but streets apart, often visiting the cafes, cabarets, shady bars and brothels of Montmartre, including the "Moulin rouge" and "Le Chat Noir", or extended stays at the notorious closed-houses, the "Rue de' Amboise" or the "Rue Joubert". By  1894, Toulouse-Lautrec and Dethomas were exhibiting together at "le Barc de Boutteville". On the 16th February, 1895, an infamous soiree was held by the Natansons to celebrate the unveiling of new murals by Vuillard. Chosen from among his friends more for the comedic effect than for his bartending skill, Dethomas assisted Toulouse-Lautrec serving drinks, replete with absurd costumes and flourishes of theatrical drama. Together they served over two thousand cocktails to three hundred guests. The event was long remembered as one of the most debaucherous evenings of the "fin-de-siècle". Such escapades played an essential role in  the development and themes of both Dethomas' and Toulouse-Lautrec's art. Dethomas and Toulouse-Lautrec's adventures together were not limited to the streets of Paris. If Dethomas' close friend Gabrielle Dorziat is to be believed, during the month of October, 1894, Dethomas and Toulouse-Lautrec travelled to Spain together, stopping at Madrid, Cordoue and Seville. In subsequent years their travels continued, visiting exhibitions, museums and mutual friends or exploring towns such as Granville, Arromanches and Dinard, at which Dethomas had made use of a summerhouse. During the summer of 1895, they journeyed to the coast of Normandy together . From photographs taken by Dethomas at Saint-Malo with the Natansons during one such trip, he later modelled two portraits of Toulouse-Lautrec, both of which are held at the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. From June 20 to July 5, 1897, Dethomas and Toulouse-Lautrec sailed Holland's canals on a barge, visiting Utrecht, the Frans Hals Museum at Haarlem and the island of Walcheren. The trip had been the suggestion of Maxime in a vain attempt at moderating Henri's increasing reliance on alcohol. Accounts differ, but the trip appears to have ended early at Toulouse-Lautrec's behest. Before  long, he went into a furious rage and refused to go ashore; children were running behind the barge on the bank of the canal, taking them to be a performing giant-dwarf duo that would perform circus tricks for their delight. During the mid-1890s, Lautrec featured Dethomas in his art with some frequency. On April 6, 1895, the former "Moulin Rouge" dancer Louise 'La Goulue' Weber commissioned two large canvases to adorn her travelling show's tent. Dethomas appears on the left-hand panel, looking down toward La Goulue. At around the same period, Toulouse-Lautrec declared "I will capture  your immobility in places of pleasure", and over the course of one and a half years, he made numerous preparatory sketches of Dethomas intended for a single painting, each taking anywhere from five to fifteen minutes to create. Completed in 1896, the famous portrait of "Maxime Dethomas at the Bal de l'Opera" now hangs in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Another portrait of his friend took the form of a risque lithograph entitled "Debauche Avec Dethomas", and was later used on the cover of an exhibition catalogue of June, 1896. Finally, an 1896 lithograph entitled "Anna Held et  Baldy" also features Dethomas, leering provocatively at the famous stage performer. Toulouse-Lautrec gifted an annotated proof copy of this lithograph to Dethomas. During the final years of Toulouse-Lautrec's descent into full-blown alcoholism, Dethomas would rarely leave his side, often escorting him to his Montmartre home at the end of long drinking sessions. The two would spend many hours working and talking together at Henri's last Paris studio on avenue Frochot, sometimes sharing the same models, at all times Dethomas attempting to steer conversation away from the topic of alcohol. Henri's increasingly erratic behaviour was  beginning to take its toll on both his family and friends. In a letter from December 8, 1898, Dethomas' discusses a lunch invitation he attended at Toulouse-Lautrec's home, at which Henri's mother was also present. Drama unfolded when conversation turned to Henri's troubles with a pair of naked mouthwash-drinking models - the lunch finally ending with Henri red-faced and shouting at his mother, declaring he could not stand life anymore, and that he will leave for Japan. Eight days later, Dethomas writes again of yet another event that fell victim to Henri's drunkenness, this  time a dinner at Goupil's. Things began well, but before dessert had been served, Henri had passed out beneath the dining table, awaking at midnight with loud complaints about how low the ceiling was. "The poor boy is really in a pitiful state of health" Dethomas continued, "senility is approaching, death perhaps." It's unclear if Toulouse-Lautrec attended Dethomas' first solo exhibition during April 1900, though accounts of the Paris Exposition held the same month describe Henri's health having deteriorated to such an extent that he asked Maxime to push him around the various exhibits in a  wheel chair - a request to which he dutifully obliged. The following month, on the suggestion of friends, Toulouse-Lautrec departed Paris for the country. In April 1901, upon hearing news of a stroke, Dethomas traveled to Bordeaux to see his friend. At the end of his stay, Henri recounted that he had taken "Gros n'abre" to the train station for his return to Paris, and given him a going-away present of two chameleons "who rolled their eyes terribly. We drank "cafe au lait" together at the station, and he's off like Saint-John the Baptist, the Forerunner, to  announce my arrival." When Dethomas learned of his friend's death, he wrote to his mentor Madame Bulteau, Friday, September 13, 1901: Bulteau's reply of September 16 summed up very well the tone of the relationship between the two friends and the reason for the little man's deep attachment to his "Gros n'abre": Jean de Tinan. In 1895 Dethomas formed what would become a brief but significant friendship with the young writer, Jean de Tinan. The charismatic twenty-one year old was a new arrival in Paris, and was soon a daily participant in the circuit of bars , cafes and theatres that Dethomas and Lautrec would frequent. Tinan quickly become their "young cadet", Lautrec illustrating the cover of his novel "L'Example de Ninon de Lenclos amoureuse", published in May, 1898. Dethomas introduced Tinan to Augustine Bulteau, and she “took charge” of the young writer, guiding him as she had Maxime years before. It was to her Venice estate that Tinan retreated during the final harrowing moths of his short life. A failing heart did not keep him from his work, though his final “sentimental little story” remained unfinished at the time of his death on November 18, 1898 . "Aimienne, ou le détournement de mineure", was published posthumously; Tinan's final act was to dedicate the unfinished novel to Dethomas, as a “testimony of his deep affection.” As had Lautrec at the beginning of the year, Dethomas contributed lithographs to the publication which adorn the cover - his first such foray into the world of literature and a fitting tribute to his dear friend. Ignacio Zuloaga. Arriving in Paris at the end of 1889 after a disappointing stay in Rome, the young Basque painter Ignacio Zuloaga first met Maxime Dethomas as a fellow student at the studio of Henri Gervex . They shared a deep admiration for Degas and Carrière, and would both later study under Carrière at the "Académie de La Palette". More hungry for recognition and success than Dethomas, Zuloaga exhibited enthusiastically at the "Salon des Artistes Français", the "Barc de Boutteville", the "Salon des Indépendants", and the "Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts". Fame, however, did not come quickly. Disappointed, he returned to Andalusia, where he intended to renew his inspiration and craft a new artistic vision - one which would appease the fickle tastes of the Paris art community. By rare chance, Zuloaga and Dethomas ran into each other  in Seville, a meeting that proved fortuitous for Zuloaga. Since his return to Spain, he had battled disappointment and poverty, but knew that if he could return again to Paris, he would surely find success. Dethomas' joy at finding his old Montmartre companion under such circumstances soon turned to sadness as Zuloaga explained his dire financial straits and his desperation to return to Paris to revive his artistic career. The seemingly intractable problems of a well-discouraged Ignacio were at once alleviated with a generous offer: "My workshop will be yours as much as it takes. Come to Paris. It 's at 9 rue Duperré. Models, I'll find you. Home." The difficulties thus managed by the goodwill of Maxime, Ignacio returned to Paris in 1894. Presented to Mrs. Marie-Louise Dethomas, mother of Maxime's half-sisters Valentine, Germaine and Alice, Zuloaga was asked to make a portrait of the eldest. This portrait of Valentine would perhaps mark the moment at which their romance was kindled. Before the end of 1894, as he did for all his interesting friends, Maxime presented Zuloaga at the salon of Madame Augustine Bulteau. Her considerable reach within the arts community would smooth his  path to recognition and ultimately lead to several commissions from her network of expatriate Spanish-speaking habitués, most notably, the 1913 portrait of the writer Anna de Noailles, which would stand as one of Zuloaga's most important works. On May 18, 1899, in Saint-Philippe-du-Roule, Ignacio Zuloaga, to whom success has just smiled at the "Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts", married Valentine Dethomas, with Eugène Carrière and Isaac Albéniz as witnesses. From a friendship born under the auspices of painting; re-invigorated by chance; and nourished by unbridled generosity; the family ties were thus consolidated between the  two artists. For the next three decades the pair would stay firm friends. Pierre Louys. The author Pierre Louys was also a close companion of Dethomas and had collaborated with him on the first edition of "Le Centaure" in 1896. During August and September, 1898, Dethomas acted as a marriage broker of sorts, attempting to bring together his half-sister Germaine and Louys, a plot that was thwarted by Maxime's stepmother, Marie-Louise Thierrée. Marcel Proust. Dethomas had a number of prominent writer-friends, one of which was Marcel Proust. Proust made a glowing mention of Dethomas' landscapes of  Venice in "The Sweet Cheat Gone" and discussed the quality of his work after attending an exhibition held at "Galerie Durand-Ruel". In a March, 1903 letter to Dethomas, Proust wrote that after having seen his exhibition, he received "a profound initiation to the understanding of nature and love of life." He continued, "it seems that one has gotten from you new eyes to look at life and men and even down to those little windows on the Grand Canal that I would love to juxtapose with yours." Publications. Dethomas made an important contribution to the renaissance of book production  in France. The following list gives a broad representation of Dethomas' artistic contributions to published literary works: Henri de Régnier's "Esquisses Vénitiennes" (1906) represents Dethomas' first major exercise in book illustration. Whilst he had been visiting Venice each winter for several years, and accumulating a considerable portfolio of work in the process, the collaboration with Regnier for this project uniquely combined previously completed stand-alone coloured artworks, and a suite of black and white sketches in charcoal and conté explicitly intended for use 'in-text'. In conjunction with the release of the book, Dethomas held an exhibition of the  book's artworks at the "Galerie de l'Art Decoratif", which was both a popular and critical success. Dethomas' bold xylographic style lent itself well to the woodcut lithographic process, and the in-text illustrations in "Esquisses Vénitiennes" set a standard by which Dethomas' subsequent illustration projects would follow. Employing the skills of engravers such as Léon Pichon and Emile Gasperini, his black and white drawings found their way into sitting rooms and libraries around the world.