Edmond François Aman Jean

b. 1858 — d. 1936

In 1880 Aman-Jean entered the Paris École des Beaux-Arts where he studied under the history and portrait painter Henri Lehmann (1814-1882). He would later share a studio with his close friend Seurat (q.v.). Aman-Jean also studied in the Louvre and after 1883 was advised by Puvis de Chavannes (q.v.). After receiving a stipend in 1885, he traveled to Rome the following year together with Ernest Laurent (1859-1929) and Henri Martin (1860-1943). Already an admirer of Goncourt and Flaubert, Aman-Jean began to associate with the Symbolist poets, including Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, and Philippe-Auguste Villiers de l'Isle Adam. Aman-Jean created delicate, languorous portraits of women, often recalling the works of the English Pre-Raphaelites. In 1885 Aman-Jean began exhibiting regularly at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français and later with the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts where he was also a member of the jury. In 1892 and 1893 he showed at the Salons de la Rose + Croix, organized by artists interested in mystical Catholi-cism. These exhibitions were open to all arts. During his later years, Aman-Jean was influenced by Bonnard (q.v.), a member of the Nabis. Besides producing oil paintings, Aman-Jean was also a prolific pastellist and printmaker.