Carolus-Duran retrospective. (Report from Europe).(paintings; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France)

In 1903 the art critic Arsene Alexandre wrote that "There are few names as illustrious at the moment in the French school and among the various schools worldwide than that of Mr Carolus-Duran." A century later this nearly forgotten artist (born Charles Emile Auguste Durand), whose last retrospective was mounted in 1919, is the subject of a traveling exhibition that will be on view at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille until June 9 and at the Musee des Augustins in Toulouse from June 27 until September 29.

Carolus-Duran was born in Lille in 1837 and studied there before completing his training in Paris at the Academie Suisse in 1860. He made several trips to Italy and Spain, where he was particularly taken by the work of Diego Velazquez. In 1872 he opened a studio in Paris and became well known as a portrait painter. He taught in Paris, becoming a cofounder of the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1890. Among his many students was John Singer Sargent, who painted a portrait of his teacher (Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts), which is on view in the exhibition. Carolus-Duran was friends with many of the leading contemporary artists including both Claude Monet and Edouard Manet. In 1905 Carolus-Duran became a member of the Legion d'honneur, a year after he was appointed director of the French Academy in Rome. He died in Paris in 1917.

The curators of the show are Annie Scottez-De Wambrechies and Plain Daguerre de Hureaux. The accompanying ...