Rating and value of paintings by René Émile Ménard

If you own a work by artist René Ménard or based on his work and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will guide you.

Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with a precise estimate of its value on the current market.

Then, if you wish to sell your work, we will direct you to the best possible arrangement to obtain the optimum price. 

Artist's rating and value

A French Symbolist artist, René Ménard is known for his significant contribution to the art history of his time, notably as a member of the Post-Impressionist, Expressionist and Surrealist movements.

On the auction market, René Ménard's creations are fairly uncommon. Appreciated by collectors, their value is stable.

As a result, a work signed by Ménard can be sold for thousands of euros.

As witness his painting Les trois grâces, dating from 1923, sold for €261,760 in 2019, while it was estimated at between €26,000 and €44,000.

Order of value from the most basic to the most prestigious

The artist's works and style

Émile-René Ménard is part of the Idealist Symbolist movement. His landscapes and figures evoke a peaceful, mythical nature and a dreamy antiquity. He combines rigorous classicism with balanced composition and formal clarity, and a diffuse, dreamlike atmosphere.

His recurring themes are ancient ruins, female nymph figures, Mediterranean or Norman landscapes, twilights and cloud-heavy skies. His chromatic tonality is soft, often oriented towards ochres, soothing greens, twilight blues and greys, which aim more for harmony than violent contrast.

After an initial phase devoted to biblical and mythological subjects, the artist concentrates on the lyrical landscape and the simple figure in an idealized setting.

He mostly uses oil paint and pastel on canvas or papier marouflé, with particular attention paid to atmospheric rendering. René Ménard sometimes uses the technique of dégrattage (partial removal of the pictorial layer) to reveal the prepared support, conferring a particular luminosity on the surface.

He works on light and air with compositions featuring charged skies, puffy clouds and light chiaroscuro effects, intended to create a meditative, almost sacralized atmosphere.

His antique and decorative influences are nourished by his travels in Italy, Greece and North Africa, which feed his formal vocabulary of ruin, arcade, temple and allegorical figures in the landscape.

For format and finish, sizes are often modest to medium, with a sober finish and no superfluous ornamentation, reinforcing the idea of " contemplative " art rather than spectacular.

The life of René Ménard

Émile-René Ménard (1862 - 1930) was born and died in Paris. He was the son of René Joseph Ménard, a painter and art historian, and the nephew of Louis Ménard, a philosopher.

He trained as a painter with Paul Baudry, William Bougereau and Henri Lehmann. He entered the Académie Julian in 1880. He then took part in numerous international salons, including the Salon de la Sécession in Munich and the Salon de la Libre Esthétique in Brussels in 1897. In 1900, he was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, then Officer in 1910.

In 1904, he was appointed Professor at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. His works blend rigorous classicism with a diffuse, dreamlike rendering, according to the critics of the time. His inspirations come from Antiquity, ruins and mythology, which he learns about on his travels. He also drew inspiration from the École de Barbizon.

His works are now to be found in several French and international museums.

Focus on Les Trois Grâces, Émile René Ménard, 1923  

Les Trois Grâce is an oil on canvas measuring approximately 161 by 215 cm, painted in 1923. It depicts three nude female figures, standing side by side, in an ideal-arcadian Mediterranean landscape, with a twilight atmosphere.

The style of this painting is in Menard's symbolist and neo-mythological vein, in a rigorous classicism blended with a diffuse, dreamlike vision.

The atmospheric surfaces are large, with a soft palette (ochre, greens, bland blues) with subtle light transitions. The silhouettes are integrated into a landscape rather than foregrounded.

The Three Graces make an interesting subject, traditionally symbolizing beauty, love and joy (Aglaé, Euphrosyne, Thalie), and are here transposed into an out-of-time setting, synonymous with aesthetic mediation.

The work is in a classical lineage, since the subject is much taken up in the Symbolist movement, but it stands out for its landscape insertion in Symbolism and its treatment of space as contemplative silence.

He shares the emphasis on quiet surface, silent figures, and evocative rather than narrative setting with Puvis de Chavannes. Ménard extends this atmosphere of the still.

He also shares with Fernand Khnopff the use of the female figure and allegory, as well as the dreamlike, mysterious dimension. Although Khnopff favors the psychic interior, like Ménard, space becomes a place of interiority.

This work also echoes Jean Delville, with whom he shares mystical and mythological symbolism and the use of idealized bodies to express metaphysical truths. Ménard borrows the mythical theme of the Graces but without Delville's mystical intensity, preferring serenity.

The integration of the figures in a Mediterranean landscape suggests not only antiquity but also a meditative dimension, with nature less a backdrop than a witness to calm and eternity.

The wide, low horizontal composition and the luminous sky in the background give an impression of breath and length, contrasting with the more dynamic compositions of other symbolists.

The treatment of light, almost crepuscular, and the softness of the gradations give the work a dreamy or dawn-like atmosphere.

The legacy of Émile René Ménard

The legacy of Émile René Ménard, a leading figure in French Symbolism, extends far beyond the boundaries of his era. Through his unique approach combining humanism and sensitivity, he created a world imbued with gentleness and reflection, where compassion and vulnerability occupy a central place.

His works, often populated by benevolent figures and scenes inspired by biblical or mythological tradition, continue to influence many contemporary artists.

At the turn of the 20th century, it was also recognized that artists such as Alphonse Osbert, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes or Odilon Redon. Séon redefined the representation of kindness and mutual aid, constantly playing on the tension between individuality and community, the visible and the invisible.

His interest in spirituality and moments of grace, far from being naïve, expresses a poetic reflection on the human condition, where the beauty of altruistic acts and the fragility of life coexist.

Today, his paintings are exhibited in prestigious museums, and his work is the subject of studies that testify to its importance in the history of Symbolist art.

Ménard's impact, though discreet, resonates across generations, making him a timeless artist whose imagination continues to fascinate and inspire.

His signature

Not all of René Ménard's works are signed.

Although there are variations, here's a first example of his signature:

Expertise your property

If you own a work by René Ménard, don't hesitate to request a free appraisal by filling in our online form.

A member of our team of experts and certified auctioneers will contact you to provide an estimate of the market value of your work.

If you are considering selling your work, our specialists will also guide you through the various alternatives available to obtain the best possible price, taking into account market trends and the specific features of each object.