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Luc-Olivier Merson (May 21 1846–November 13
1920, was a French academic painter and
illustrator also known for his postage stamp and
currency designs.



Born Nicolas Luc-Olivier Merson in Paris, France,
he grew up in an artistic household, the son of
Charles-Olivier Merson, a painter and art critic.
He studied under Gustave Chassevent at the École
de Dessin and then Isidore Pils at the École des
Beaux-Arts. Merson had his first work exhibited at
the Paris Salon in 1866 and three years later was
awarded the Prix de Rome. During the five years
spent working in Italy, he concentrated on
religious and historical subjects for his art.

Back in France, in 1875 he won the first-prize
medal at the exhibition by the Société des
artistes français. Seen here is "Nôtre-Dame de
Paris," one of Merson's best known paintings that
was created as a result of the huge popularity of
the Victor Hugo novel of the same name. An 1881
work, with its mystical Gothic Architecture|Gothic
images, its style reflects the influence of the
then evolving Symbolism (arts)|Symbolist movement.

Merson's art became a vehicle for decorative
commissions, doing major works for such
institutions as the famous Palais de Justice
(Courthouse), the Louis Pasteur Museum, and the
mosaic in the chancel vault in the Basilica of the
Sacré Cœur. He also did the artwork for stained
glass windows, an example of which can be found in
the Church of the Holy Trinity Rittenhouse Square
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His profile was
raised considerably after being awarded a gold
medal for his painting at the 1889 Exposition
Universelle (1889)|Exposition Universelle, and in
1892 he was elected to the Académie des
beaux-arts. 



By 1900 Merson was designing postage stamps for
the government and by 1908 he had been contracted
by the Banque de France|Bank of France to create a
number of designs for some of the country's
banknotes. Between 1906 and 1911, Luc-Olivier
Merson taught at  the École des Beaux-Arts. In
recognition of his contribution to French culture,
Luc-Olivier Merson was awarded the Legion of
Honor.

Luc-Olivier Merson died in Paris in 1920, his work
largely forgotten as a result of the overwhelming
popularity of the avant-garde art forms as seen in
the works of the Impressionists and other artists
movements.