Jean Gabriel DOMERGUE ✿

Jean-Gabriel Domergue (4 March 1889 – 16 November 1962) was a French painter often described as “the inventor of the pin-up” for his wide-eyed, slender-necked portraits of Parisian women from the 1920s. He was in Bordeaux, France and studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

At the age of 17, he exhibited works at the Salon des Artistes Français and in 1920, was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome. Though he started his career as a painter of landscapes, by the 1920s he devoted himself entirely to portraits of women, ultimately painting over 3,000 images over the course of his life.

He was a sought-after portraitist in aristocratic circles and also worked as a designer for notable couturiers, including Paul Poiret and Henry Marque. In 1955, Domergue was appointed curator at the Jacquemart-André Museum in Paris, and was later named a Knight of the Legion of Honor and Fellow of the Academy of Fine Arts. He died November 16, 1962 in Paris, France.