Georges Picard (1857-1943)

Georges Picard, was born December 23 1857 in Vosges and died 1943. He was a French painter ,the son of Abraham Picard, and  came from a wealthy Jewish family. His father was an embroidery manufacturer in Paris. He finished his studies at Lycee Charlemagne in Paris and in 1877 he entered the School of Fine Arts. He was a student of Jean Leon Gerome for two years. In 1879, he was honoured by Paul Philippoteaux and collaborated with him in the panoramas that the artist executed in the United States in 1885 and 1887. He exhibited at the Salon of 1888. He executed the decorations of the Lobau Gallery of Paris City Hall for eight years, from 1891 to 1898 to perform an allegory to the glory of Paris. He studied the art of fresco, a technique that he put at the service of Clarin who then made the decoration of a mansion in Neulilly Sur Seine. Picard worked successively with Henri Gervex and Alfred Stevens on a triptych for the 1889 World Fair. The State buys from him the 'Port of Le Havre' at the Salon of 1891. A member of the Administrative Commission of Fine Arts, he intervenes in favour of the work of his friend Rene Lalique for the Salon of 1895. In 1905, he is in charge of decorating the ceremonial dining room and the hall of the Embassy of France in Vienna. He delivers a diorama of The Palace of Versailles and the Place de la Concorde and a fresco 'The Pleasures of Life' for the show (now missing). In 1906, he painted the ceilings of the south pavilion of the Petit Palais in Paris.