There is not much to be found on the web about Alexis Axilette, a french painter born in 1860. Even if he won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1885 and was a Gérome student. You can still find some of his work, some commissions and studies if you dig a little.
Ramon Hurtado was the first to told me about him, and that the Angers museum had some of his artworks but they weren’t displayed. The website of the Angers Musée des Beaux-Arts did not display any high resolution pictures of this work sadly, but I asked the museum if they could send me better pictures of them.
After some mails exchanges they accepted to ask a photograph to come take new pictures of the paintings and send them to me.
So without further talk here are the paintings.
Please credit the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers & David Riou if you want to display the photos.
Académie, étude de nu - Alexis Axilette, 1882 - Oil paint on canvas - © Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers - David Riou
Académie de nègre [sic] - Alexis Axilette, 1881 - Oil paint on canvas - © Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers - David Riou
Portrait de Madame Axilette - Alexis Axilette, 1910- Oil paint on canvas - © Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers - David Riou
Académie d’homme - Alexis Axilette, 1920 - Pastel on paper - © Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Angers - David Riou
I’m really intrigued by the evolution of the brushstrokes between what seems a smooth academic art study of a nude from 1882 and the Portrait of Madame Axilette from 1910 which displays a very clear brushstroke work, see the close-up below :
Close up from two Alexis Axilette paintings from 1882 & 1910
Special thanks to Ramon Hurtado and the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Angers.