Jules-René Hervé was born in Langres in 1887. His father was a former seminarian, while his uncle, Jules Hervé-Mathé, was a drawing teacher.

Jules-René attends the Collège Diderot in Langres (Haute-Marne). He showed an early aptitude for drawing and painting. In 1908, he moved to Paris and continued his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, from which he graduated. He exhibited for the first time at the Salon des artistes français in 1910. From 1911 to 1943, he taught painting to several generations of artists, and was awarded a silver medal at the 1914 Salon des artistes français. Involved in the First World War, he was forced to put his career on hold. In 1924, he toured Europe on a grant from the French government. That same year, in Belfort, he exhibited alongside such renowned painters from the Franche-Comté, Lorraine and Alsace regions as Georges Fréset, Jules Adler, Joseph-Paul Alizard and Jules-Alexis Muenier. He also exhibited in Langres alongside René-Xavier Prinet. He was awarded a gold medal at the 1925 Salon des artistes français and a gold medal at the 1937 Universal Exhibition. He was later elected vice-president of the Salon des artistes français and died in Langres in 1981.

In 2019, the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Langres devoted an exhibition to Jules-René Hervé and Jules Hervé-Mathé, his uncle.

Jules-René Hervé is particularly renowned for his views of Paris, which are on a par with those of Galien-Laloue or Cortès, but also for his descriptions of his native city and its religious processions, which he portrayed with a vaporous touch and a tangy palette.

Thirteen of the artist's paintings, from a single private collection in Lyon, will feature in the January 17 sale. They show the full range of this sensitive painter's talent.


Jules-René Hervé (1887-1981)
Jeux d'enfants au Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
Estimation: 700 - 900€


Jules-René Hervé (1887-1981)
Vue animée de la Place de la Madeleine, Paris
Estimation: 800 - 1 200€


Jules-René Hervé (1887-1981)
Communiantes à la campagne
Estimation: 800 - 1 200€


Jules-René Hervé (1887-1981)
Jeux d'enfants au salon
Estimation: 800 - 1 200€

Click here to discover the Impressionist & Modern Art Auction
17 January 2024

For further information, please contact
Pierre-Alban Vinquant
+33 (0)1 47 45 08 20
vinquant@aguttes.com