"Adolphe Franke" by Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884)

Adolphe Franck

Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884)

1878

Oil on canvas

H. 54.0; L. 48.5 cm.

Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Source: Crastre, Plate V, following p. 38

Misidentifed in the text as Portrait of M. Hayem. See commentary below.

Image download, text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee.

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Adolphe Franck (1809-1893) was a Professor at the College de France, a "philosopher and logician ... a leader of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, president of the Société des Études Juives, and an Academician of stature" (Patel 324-25). He also wrote interestingly about other religions, including Oriental ones, for example Zoroastrianism. Although Crastre has mixed up this portrait with that of another member of the Jewish community (Simon Hayem, to whom Franck was related by marriage), his comment on it is perfectly apt:

A marvel of discernment and of rendering. The face, to be sure, has a strong originality; but there is no slight merit in having expressed with such striking truth the piercing intelligence of the eyes that twinkle behind the lenses of the spectacles, and the energy, tempered with satiric humour, of his whole odd physiognomy. [Following p.38]

The words "odd physiognomy" might seem uncalled for, especially as there is (as usual with this artist) a great deal of warmth in the portrait.

Related Material

Bibliography

Crastre, François. Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884). Frederick A. Stokes, 1914. Internet Archive. Contributed by University of California Libraries. Web. 12 March 2020.

Patai, Raphael. The Jewish Mind. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997.

Created 12 March 2020