Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange

EDITION III / UNTITLED, FLEURS D’AUTOMNE (C. 1910) / TEFAF MAASTRICHT

The third edition of the MAZE / Art Awards F.P.Journe was presented on March 12, 2026, during TEFAF Maastricht.

The jury was composed of Gabriel Dette (Kunstmuseum Basel), Lydia Berkens (Conservation Institute Maastricht), and Annabelle Ténèze (Musée du Louvre-Lens). The award was granted to Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange (1877–1958), presented by Galerie Pavec, for the work Fleurs d’automne.

This edition of the award was conceived specifically in relation to the identity of TEFAF Maastricht, a fair that brings together works spanning several centuries and encourages dialogue across periods of art history. For this occasion, the MAZE / Art Awards F.P.Journe focused on historical artists whose work remained partially overlooked in dominant narratives of modern art history, while being actively reintroduced into contemporary discourse through the work of galleries, researchers, and institutions. In this framework, the prize also aimed to recognize the role of galleries in rediscovering, contextualizing, and presenting artists who have historically remained underrepresented despite the significance of their work.

Born in Paris in 1877, Jeanne Selmersheim-Desgrange developed her practice within the context of the French Neo-Impressionist movement during the first half of the twentieth century. Coming from a family deeply connected to the arts and decorative arts, she initially worked across disciplines including jewelry and decorative objects before progressively focusing on painting. Her trajectory reflects a broader moment in which artists sought to challenge the traditional hierarchy between fine arts and applied arts.

Closely connected to the Neo-Impressionist circle around Paul Signac, with whom she shared both an intellectual and personal relationship for several decades, Selmersheim-Desgrange became part of a generation extending the legacy of Divisionism beyond its initial formulations. While rooted in the chromatic and structural principles associated with Neo-Impressionism, her work developed a more intimate and atmospheric dimension, often centered on domestic interiors, still lifes, and floral compositions.

Long overshadowed within dominant narratives of early modernism, her work has more recently been the subject of renewed attention through research, exhibitions, and gallery initiatives highlighting the role of women artists within the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century.

Fleurs d’automne reflects many of these concerns. Built through a precise organization of color and light, the composition demonstrates the artist’s attention to tonal vibration and surface construction. Rather than using Divisionism as a purely scientific system, Selmersheim-Desgrange approached color with a more sensitive and rhythmic understanding, where atmosphere and perception remain central. The floral motif also echoes a recurring subject within her practice, through which she explored both formal structure and chromatic subtlety.

The awarded work was acquired and proposed as a donation to the Kunstmuseum Basel.

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