Jules-Alexandre Grün (French, 1868-1938)

The present work is a study for Grün’s submission to the Salon of 1929, Un groupe d’artistes (fig. 1). The work depicts members of Grün’s circle at the time, and the male artists, from left to right, have been identified as: Henri Martin, Edgar Maxence, Marcel Baschet, Paul Chabas, Jean-Louis Forain, Émile Humblot, and Albert Besnard. Grün’s wife, Juliette Toutain-Grün, a classically trained pianist and composer, is the female figure seated in the foreground, but unfortunately the name of the young woman pouring tea is unknown. Two studies for the present work, for the figures of Forain and Besnard, are in the Musée d’Orsay.