Provenance:
Private Collection, France

Jules René Hervé was a well-known painter of light-infused scenes of Parisian haute-bourgeoisie society. Although set within the confines of Paris, Hervé sought to depict the most pastoral, or leisurely, scenes within the capital city, including the haute-bourgeoisie pastimes of strolling, dining, or attending the ballet. Born in the small northeastern town of Langres, France, Jules René Hervé began his first artistic training in his hometown, studying with local artists. Later, Hervé moved to Paris, where he formally studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (the National School of Decorative Arts) with the Academic painters Ferdnand Cormon and Jules Adler. At the École, Hervé showed a predilection for scenes of elegant leisure, whether outdoors at the race courses at Longchamps, or indoors at L'Opéra. In 1910, Hervé first exhibited at in the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris-he won a silver medal in 1914 and a gold medal in 1925. Eventually, Hervé was acknowledged to be one of the most influential teachers of Paris' brightest art students, and beginning in 1911 (through 1943), with the exception of his service in the First World War, was an influential instructor at the School of Decorative Arts. His work is characterized by its gentile urban or rural subject matter and his use of shimmering color. His paintings are in public French collections in the provincial cities of Langres, Saint-Étienne, Annecy, and Tourcoing, as well as the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Dahesh Museum in New York City. The present painting Le foyer de l'opéra reflects the artist's interest in contemporary urban subjects of the haute-bourgeoisie, as well as Hervé's absorption of the tenets of the French Impressionists, such as Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet.

Museums:
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon (Dijon Museum of Fine Art), Dijon, France
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Troyes (Troyes Museum of Fine Art), Troyes, France
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille (Lille Museum of Fine Art), Lille, France

Exhibited:
Art Institute of Chicago, 1930

References:
E. Bénézit Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, Editions Gründ
Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975, Sound View Press