View source for William Ablett

{{short description|French painter, designer and engraver}}
[[File:William Albert Ablett portrait.png|thumb|215px|William Ablett; from his obituary in ''[[Le Matin (France)|Le Matin]]'']]
'''William Albert Ablett''' (9 July 1877, [[Paris]] – 25 April 1936, Paris) was a French painter, designer and engraver of English ancestry. He is best known for his fashionable portraits of women.

== Biography ==
[[File:Ablett-Muff.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Girl with a Muff]]
His father, William James Ablett (1843–1909), was President of the [[British Chambers of Commerce]] office in France. In 1897, he entered the [[École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts]] as a foreign student.

He studied with [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]] and [[Albert Aublet]], who would also become his friend. In 1900, he was awarded a second prize for his drawings from nature at the [[Salon (Paris)|Salon]].<ref>[http://www.ensba.fr/ow2/catzarts/voirFiche.xsp?id=00301-6472&prof=VI2 Catalogue of Students Online], Cat'zArts</ref> In 1905, he was awarded a silver medal at the ''[[Liège International (1905)|Exposition Universelle de Liège]]''.

In 1907, he became a member of the {{ill| Cercle de l'Union artistique|fr}}. He was a regular exhibitor at the [[Société nationale des beaux-arts]] from 1910 to 1936; presenting mostly portraits and [[Genre art|genre]] scenes.

He began working with engravings during the early 1920s, primarily illustrations for magazines and reviews. Many of his works were female figures related to fashion and the decorative arts, done as colored etchings.<ref>« Ablett, William », in [[Janine Bailly-Herzberg]], ''Dictionnaire de l'estampe en France (1830–1950)'', Paris, Arts et métiers graphiques, Flammarion, 1985 {{ISBN|978-2-08-012013-7}}</ref>

In 1930, he was named a Knight in the [[Legion of Honor]].<ref>[http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/leonore/NOMS/nom_00.htm Documentation] @ the [[Base Léonore]]</ref> He was also elected to the [[Royal Academy of Arts]].

The following year, his daughter, Marie-Germaine Ablett, married the architect, {{ill|Louis Aublet|fr}}, the son of his former teacher and friend Albert Aublet<ref>[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6154989x ''Les Modes : revue mensuelle illustrée des Arts décoratifs appliqués''], #323, April 1931, pg.2] @ [[Gallica]].</ref>
[[File:Ablett-Daughter.jpg|thumb|200px|Portrait of the Artist's Daughter]]
He was fatally injured in an automobile accident in an alley near the [[Bois de Boulogne]], and died the following morning at [[Beaujon Hospital]].<ref>[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k262830w ''Le Temps'', 27 April 1936] @ Gallica.</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Emmanuel Bénézit]], ''[[Benezit Dictionary of Artists]]'', Vol.1, Gründ, 1924 [https://archive.org/stream/dictionnairecrit01bene#page/12/mode/1up Online]
* Stephen Bury, ''Dictionary of British Graphic Artists and Illustrators'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2012 {{ISBN|978-0-19-992305-2}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=05C02RhJZCkC&pg=PA2 Online]

== External links ==
{{commons category|William Albert Ablett|William Ablett}}
* [http://www.artnet.com/artists/william-ablett/ More works by Ablett] @ ArtNet
* [http://www.hubertduchemin.com/fichiers/William_Albert_Ablett.pdf Illustrated biography] @ the Galerie Hubert Duchemin

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ablett, William}}
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century French painters]]
[[Category:French people of English descent]]
[[Category:French portrait painters]]
[[Category:Engravers from Paris]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in France]]
[[Category:20th-century French painters]]