Edouard Cabane

Biography of Edouard Cabane ( 1857-1942 )

Cabane was born in Paris on 8 th January 1857. He was a pupil of Adolphe William Bouguereau (1825-1905) and Tony Robert-Fleury (1838-1912) and began at the Salon in 1876. He regularly exhibited his work at the French Artists Society until 1932, and he became a member in 1901. He was awarded with a distinction at the Salon in 1886 and at the Universal Exhibition in 1889, as well as a third class medal in 1903 and second class medal in 1907. He won second prize in Rome in 1884 thanks to his very academic canvas Le Serment de Brutus The Salis church in the Pyrenees honours four large panels by Cabane and there are numerous paintings in museums all over the provinces, in particular the Beaux-Arts museum in Bordeaux and the Saint-Denis museum in Reims. He was Léon Jean-Baptiste Perrault’s son-in-law (the latter lived from 1832-1908 and was the curator of the Beaux-Arts museum in Bordeaux, as indicated in the museum’s general inventory register). Cabane painted the Chemin de Croix of the cathedral in La Rochelle. This he did from his father-in-law’s originals, he also having been Bouguereau’s pupil. Edouard Cabane’s work is tinged with what he learnt from Bouguereau’s studio and shows the real flair of an artist. We can see this mixture of mannerism, dignity and sensuality in his portraits and religious paintings, which was peculiar to the Venetians of the 16 th century. Amongst all of his works, we notice that they are almost exclusively of women. Sometimes his work takes on an almost photographic quality, such as in le Serment de Brutus , le Manchon de Francine or L e Portrait de mes Parent s. In some of Edouard Cabane’s paintings, even if the colours used in the scenery seem to be enclosed within the lines, the woman or child themselves are painted using larger strokes with lots of colour going over the edge of the line, thus making it barely perceptible . Edouard Cabane met the bourgeoisie’s demands and there are many references to 18 th century painters, such as Jean-Antoine Watteau and François Boucher. However, in the series of portraits he carried out, his style does not appear to be totally rigid. He used wide strokes, dispersing colour which challenged the line, thus creating a hazy painting whose style (not subject) was no doubt closer to that of the impressionists than of his teacher, Bouguereau. It appeared that this change came about from around 1906. Was it due to an evolution in style or rather the new demands of the patrons? All these questions will remain in abeyance because Edouard Cabane intrigues us still today. The mystery surrounding him encourages us to rediscover his work.