Lenepveu Descendants Threaten Legal Action Over Paris Opera Ceiling

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The descendants of 19th-century French painter Jules-Eugène Lenepveu are threatening legal action to uncover his original fresco on the ceiling of Paris's Palais Garnier opera house. This comes after artist Marc Chagall's 24 wedge-shaped canvases, commissioned secretly in 1962 by French culture minister André Malraux, were installed over Lenepveu's work.

Leading this effort is Arnaud Carayon, president of the Friends of Lenepveu Society and a great-great-great-great-grandnephew of the artist. Carayon, who renovated Lenepveu's Angers tomb in 2022, has spent the last three years attempting to persuade the opera to reveal the original frescoes, including an appeal to French president Emmanuel Macron. Lenepveu is renowned for his Joan of Arc frescoes in the Paris Pantheon and was recently the subject of a 260-work retrospective at the city's Musée des Beaux Arts.

Carayon is now preparing to take his campaign to court.“Today, everyone has forgotten Lenepveu. Unfortunately, he was swept away by the wave of impressionism, but in his time he was really a star,” Carayon stated, adding,“More importantly, he was specifically chosen to decorate the opera ceiling by Charles Garnier, who designed everything in the opera house right down to the last door knob.”

The Palais Garnier is scheduled for renovation from 2027 to 2032. Carayon suggested in his letter to President Macron that the Lenepveu and Chagall ceilings could be alternated, each displayed for a decade. He noted that the Chagall ceiling was designed to be removable. Alexander Neef, director of the Paris Opera, told Le Monde in an interview that,“The debate over the Chagall ceiling has gone on for more than 60 years. The Lenepveu ceiling has been listed as a historic monument since 1923 so its heritage value is recognised. That his descendants wish to defend his memory is legitimate.”

Source: Artforum

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