Raymond Woog

French, born Paris 1875

Raymond Woog was one of numerous students of the great artist and teacher Gustave Moreau. Raymond Woog painted genre paintings, landscapes and still lives, but it is above all the quality of his portraits that stand out in his work. In his portraits he expresses solidity, painterly virtuosity, and a sort of savory perfection that emanates from the attitudes and faces of his subjects. He painted the portraits of several high profile figures of his day, including Anatole France, Pablo Casals, and Fernand Gregh, some of which were included in an exhibition in Paris in 1971 at the Musée Jacquemart-André entitled Marcel Proust en son temps.

The current charming work, Deux enfants jouants is a masterful example of the artist’s work. Typical to his style, it is spare in composition yet rich in atmosphere. The painting radiates the type of elegance and sophistication seen in works by James Abbot McNeill Whistler and Jacque Emile Blanche, and one senses an influence of Japonisme.

The artist exhibited at the Paris Salons of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts from 1911 onwards.

He was made Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. The Musée du Luxembourg conserves the painting entitled Enfant a la Poupée (Child with Doll) in the permanent collection.