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Size:
Height – 106.6cm x Width – 71cm
During World War I the rapidly expanding war industries led to fundamental changes in the roles played by women. In 1918 nearly three million new women workers were employed in food, textile and war industries. Taboos and restrictions were removed allowing women to work for the first time in large-scale production industries such as steel mills and logging camps.
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Born in 1880 and awarded the Prix de Rome in 1905, Jonas was appointed the official painter of the French Navy in 1916, and was already an accomÂplished artist when the Banque de France asked him to design its notes in 1933.
By that time he had proÂduced a proÂlific and diverse body of work. His early comÂposÂiÂtions were very realÂistic depicÂtions of working life, notably of the mines in northern France where he was born. He also painted a number of porÂtraits, both official (for example, General PerÂshing in 1917 ’ curÂrently in the MetÂroÂpolitan Museum of New York ’ and Marshal Foch) and private, along with major murals in the north of France (the ceiling of the Chamber of ComÂmerce, the town hall in ValenÂciennes, for example) and in Paris (the Maison des Centraux building). Jonas’s work also included illusÂtraÂtions for major litÂerary works and paintings of intimate scenes such as landÂscapes. In 1933, at the age of 53, Lucien Jonas was recogÂnized as a highly talÂented artist.
In that year, the Banque de France decided to drop the allegÂorical themes that until then had illusÂtrated its bankÂnotes, and reduce them in size. It asked Lucien Jonas to produce sketches, and the artist went on to design France’s bankÂnotes for the last six years of the Third Republic, from the OccuÂpation to the first months of Charles de Gaulle’s proÂviÂsional govÂernment. His talents as a porÂtrait painter can clearly be seen in the notes depicting famous men from France’s history
While working for the Banque de France, Lucien Jonas conÂtinued to paint until his death in 1947, notably proÂducing milÂitary porÂtraits. In1944, he painted General Koenig, de Larminat and de Lattre de Tassigny (the first two porÂtraits are in the Mus e de l’ordre de la Lib ration).
