LEFEBVRE, Jules, French painter: b. Tournan, Seine-et-Marne, 10 March 1836; d. Paris, 24 Feb. 1912. He was apprenticed to the trade of his father who was a baker, but through his mother's interest he was sent to Paris and became the pupil of Leon Coignet. His 'Death of Priam,' exhibited in the Salon (1851), won for him the Grand Prix de Rome, since which he gained many medals and honors. His 'Femme Couch& in the Salon of 1868, a nude of singular freshness and power, established his reputation as an artist of the first rank, and the votes of the judges were divided equally between this picture and a painting of Corot's for the medal of honor, which was, however, bestowed on Brion. Among his best-known canvases are 'Grass hopper) (1872) in the Saint Louis 'ignon) and (1878) in the Metro politan Museum, New York; 'Diana Surprised) (1879); 'Lady Godiva,) a painting popularized by many reproductions; "Psyche' (1883), Qa Write) in the Salon of 1870 attracted wide attention, and in recognition of its merits the painter was decorated with the cross of the Legion of Honor. 'Truth) is represented as
holding aloft to the world a shining mirror. The action is impressive, the lines and propor tion of the figure admirable, although the coloring is a little cold. As a painter of ideal heads Lefebvre has become widely popular. His 'Vittoria Colonna> is one of the most effective of these. 'La Liseus0 (1889) ; 'La Poesie Antique,) 'Laure) and all exhibit the classic beauty, the repose and ex quisite refinement of the ideal school while "Clemente 'satire is a study which is very human and life-like.
Lefebvre was one of the first of Fiench painters, and his influence was great in the Julien School where he was one of the in structors. Among the romanticists, classicists, realists and impressionists, he stood in the same class as Hector Leroux, Baudry, Bou gereau and Puvis de Chavannes, as an advanced idealist. Yet in opposition to such artists as Courbet, Mane! and Bonnat, he was immensely popular, being in his love of ideal beauty and his refined technique "French of the French?)