Jehan Georges Vibert, known as Jean-Georges Vibert 1840-1902

Jean-Georges Vibert was the son of Louise-Georgina Jazet and the print publisher Théodore Vibert, a partner of Adolphe Goupil and founder of the house Goupil & Cie. He was the grandson of the rosarian Jean-Pierre Vibert (1777–1866).

He began his artistic apprenticeship with his maternal grandfather, the engraver Jean-Pierre-Marie Jazet. More interested in painting than engraving, he joined the studio of Félix-Joseph Barrias before being admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1857, where he spent six years in the atelier of François-Édouard Picot.

Vibert first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1863 with two works, La Sieste and Repentir, though this initial showing met with limited success. He gained recognition in the following years, earning a medal at the 1864 Salon for Narcisse changé en Fleur, the same year he married Louise Dietrich (born 1843), from whom he divorced on July 1, 1886. He also received medals at the 1867 and 1868 Salons and a third-class medal at the 1878 Exposition Universelle for several watercolors, including La Cigale et la Fourmi, which was noted by the New York Times.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Vibert enlisted with the tirailleurs of the Seine and was wounded at the Battle of Buzenval in October 1870, an injury that earned him the Légion d’Honneur. He was promoted to officer of the order in 1882.

In 1886, he served on the jury for the Watercolor-Pastel section of the second International Exhibition of Black and White in Paris alongside Gustave Boulanger and Émile Lévy.

Vibert exhibited at the Salon until 1899, sending mostly anecdotal eighteenth-century genre scenes. His paintings, often with an ironic tone, depicting cardinals in familiar situations, with the vermilion of their robes prominently highlighted, brought him great success, as the theme was then fashionable. His popularity extended to the United States, where he sold works at high prices to collectors including John Jacob Astor IV and William Kissam Vanderbilt. A large collection of Vibert’s works was assembled by Mary Louise Maytag, heiress of Elmer Henry Maytag, for Bishop Coleman Carroll of Miami, who greatly appreciated them despite their anticlerical undertones. This collection was later donated to St. John Vianney College Seminary in Florida.

Jean-Georges Vibert is buried in Paris at Père-Lachaise Cemetery (4th division).