Michel Simonidy 1872-1933

Born in Bucharest under the name Menelas Simonidy, he entered the studio of Theodor Aman at the city’s School of Fine Arts at the age of just sixteen. Displaying exceptional talent from an early age, and accumulating medals and distinctions, he obtained a scholarship in 1891 to study in Paris, where he settled permanently the following year. It was in the French capital that he chose to sign his works henceforth as Michel Simonidy, adopting the codes and customs of his new country of residence.

After studying at the Académie Julian under Gabriel Ferrier and William Bouguereau, he became a pupil of Léon Bonnat at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1893, where he refined the firmness of his draftsmanship, combining it with a sensitive and refined touch. From 1896 onward, he exhibited annually at the Salon des Artistes Français, presenting Symbolist compositions whose subjects were most often drawn from Greco-Roman mythology.

At the same time, his graphic talent found expression in the art of the Art Nouveau poster. As early as 1895, he designed a poster for Sarah Bernhardt in the role of Mélisande in La Princesse lointaine by Edmond Rostand. He repeated this success in 1903 by creating another poster featuring the great Sarah as Theodora, the principal character in Victorien Sardou’s play.

He achieved major acclaim at the 1900 Exposition Universelle with a large allegorical painting, In the A la suite de l’Indépendance, la Fortune distribue ses bienfaits a la Roumanie (Aftermath of Independence, Fortune Distributes Her Blessings to Romania) (cat. no. 58), a monumental work intended to adorn the ceiling of the Council Chamber of the newly completed palace of the Caisse d’Épargnes et de Consignations in Bucharest, built according to the plans of the French architect Paul Gottereau. Awarded a silver medal, Simonidy was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour the following year.

From 1903 onward, favoring the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, he enjoyed continued success and established himself as one of the leading figures of Romanian painting, skilfully reconciling his delicate and sensual Symbolism with portraiture and genre painting. During the interwar period, the Barbazanges and Georges Petit galleries in Paris successively devoted major retrospectives to his work, in 1922 and 1926.