Henri DETURCK
 (Bailleul, 1858 – Coutances, 1898)

 Study head

 Oil on canvas
 Signed lower right
 53 x 50 cm

 Exhibition :
  
 Paris Fine Arts Exhibition of 1895, under No. 600
 Born to a weaver father and a lacemaker mother (specializing in "Valenciennes point"), Henri Deturck grew up among six brothers and sisters. Thanks to a scholarship of 500 Francs awarded to him by the city of Bailleul, he was able to attend the School of Fine Arts in Lille, and was later a student of Alexandre Cabanel.
 It seems that he spent most of his career in Coutances, where he worked as a drawing teacher at the town's high school, but there are traces of his time in the Jura, with several views of Poligny, including one made in 1892.
 The few other known works of his are regionalist genre scenes, quite banal, even if they try to recall the atmosphere of the paintings of the Le Nain brothers.

 Our painting is of a completely different interest; it demonstrates remarkable artistic qualities, and exudes an intense presence. Its expressive force is accentuated by the rather tight framing. The work was also noticed and praised by the press. "La Revue du Nord" spoke of "a superb study head", while another literary and artistic review, "Les Enfants du Nord", highlighted this "vigorously spirited study head where good qualities are revealed".

 This work is an excellent illustration of the social realism so prized in this last part of the 19th century; our figure is probably that of a vagabond or worker who died at work, taken in situ at the morgue. Analysis of the pictorial layer allows us to detect that the halo and the signature were added at a later stage by the artist, with a view to a presentation at the Salon, in order to give a sacred dimension to his work, less harsh and more acceptable to the jury of the Salon.
 Alongside this man's head (who became a Saint), Henri Deturck exhibited another painting at this 1895 salon, The Convalescent.
 In 1896 he exhibited an Old Norman Woman.

 Henri's brother, Julien Deturck (1862-1941), was a talented engraver who also worked in Cabanel's workshop. Winner of the Grand Prix de Rome for intaglio engraving in 1888, he won numerous awards and medals at the Salon and universal exhibitions.

 Acquired by the Musée des Augustins - Toulouse