Delphin Enjolras

Biography of Delphin Enjolras ( 1857-1945 )

Delphin Enjolras was born in 1857 in the historic town of Courcouron in the Ardèche. His formal artistic training started at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, under the training of  the  academic painter Jean-Léon Gérôme. Enjolras also studied in the studio of Adolphe Dagnan-Bouveret and he is recorded to have furhtered his artistic education at a drawing school in Paris with the water-colour artist Gaston Gérard. Having made his debut at the Société des Artistes Français in 1889, he was elected a member in 1901 and continued to exhibit his works with the Society until 1909.

At his beginnings, he painted mostly landscapes, before specialising in dazzling studies of young elegant women. They were depicted in their daily activities, reading a book, drinking tea or playing music, or at their toilette. His representations of women were often illuminated by lamplight, in a soft and diffused execution which was characteristic of the artist’s style. He painted numerous pastels and watercolours, mastering perfectly those techniques, which enabled him to recreate his famous softened lightening. Enjolras was also the author of several very sensual paintings of nude. He portrayed a number of orientalist subjects, genre scenes, and society portraits.