Émile Louis Salomé, “The Prodigal Son”, 1863, Oil on Canvas, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France
Born in Lille, France, in December of 1833, Émile Louis Salomé was a painter of genre scenes, portraits and still lifes. He received his initial art training from his father Louis Adolphe Salomé, an engraver and lithographer. Émile Salomé entered the Academic Schools of Lille around 1845 and exhibited his works for the first time at the Paris Salon of 1859.
In 1862 Émile Salomé shared with his fellow painter Carolus-Duran a four-year scholarship grant from the city of Lille to complete their studies at Rome’s Wicar workshop, bequeathed to the city of Lille by painter and art collector Jean Baptiste Wicar. His studies completed, Salomé settled in his hometown of Lille, establishing a strong regional reputation for his works.
Émile Salomé was admitted to the Society of Sciences, Agriculture and the Arts of Lille in 1878. He continued to exhibit his work at the Paris Salon from 1861 until his death in August of 1881 at the age of forty-seven. A retrospective of his works was held in 1881 at the Palais Rameau in Lille.
Émile Salomé’s work can be found at the Museum of Art and History in Neuchâtel, Switzerlnd; the Musée Benoit de Puydt in Bailleul, France; the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, France; and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille, which holds Salomé’s 1863 “The Prodigal Son” in its collection.