ART “4”
“2”-DAY 30 April |
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Born on 30 April 1835: Franz von Defregger,
Austrian academic
painter who died on 02 January 1921. — {Do we need someone to refreg
all that he defregged, and repict all that he depicted?}{I don't know who
might need a defregger, though I can think of situations when you might
need a defrogger, or, much more frequently, a defogger.} — He was first trained in wood-carving by the Innsbruck sculptor Michael Stolz [1820–1890], who recognized his talent for oil painting and in 1860 introduced him to Karl Theodor von Piloty in Munich. On Piloty’s recommendation, he studied for a year under Hermann Dyck (1842–74) at the private school of the Kunstgewerbeverein, then under Hermann Anschütz [1802–1880] at the Munich Akademie. In 1863–1864 he was in Paris, but he seems to have been little influenced by developments in contemporary French painting. He returned to Munich, via the Tyrol, in 1864 and entered Piloty’s studio, where he remained until 1870, working alongside Hans Makart and Gabriel von Max. — Lovis Corinth was a student of Defregger. — LINKS — Wallfährer (1901, 136x178cm) — Die erste Studienreise (1887, 104x140cm) — The Happy Family (1884, 45x27cm) — Abschied der Jäger (1877, 91x75cm) — Der Zitherspieler auf der Alp, dem zwei Mädchen zuhören (1876, 95x74cm) — A Young Man In Tyrolean Costume (1872, 76x64cm) — Die Marchenerzahlerin (1871, 42x52cm) — Jungen Bauern {36x25cm) — Tiroler Landsturm im Kriege von 1809. Heimkehr der Sieger (1878; 600x824pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1923pix) — The Blacksmith (116x102cm; 1138x1000pix _ ZOOM to 2159x1897pix) |
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Died on 30 April 1755: Jean-Baptiste
Oudry, French artist specialized in Animals,
born on 17 March 1686. — Studied under Nicolas
de Largillière. Oudry's students included Jean-Germain
Drouais — Oudry was a painter, tapestry designer, and illustrator. He was a student of Largillière and painted some portraits, but he is renowned chiefly as one of the outstanding animal painters of the 18th century. With Desportes he was the foremost exponent of hunting scenes and still-life with dead game. Some of his best work was done as a tapestry designer, and he was head of the Beauvais and Gobelins factories from 1734 and 1736 respectively. He also did book illustrations, notably for an edition of La Fontaine's Fables (1755). His son Jacques-Charles [1720-1778], a flower and animal painter, sometimes collaborated with him. — LINKS — Dead Roe (1721, 193x260cm) _ Dead Wolf (1721,193x260cm) _ These are two of Oudry's finest paintings. — Swan Attacked by a Dog (ZOOM to 1300x1767pix) — La Ferme (1750, 130x212cm; 470x700pix, 189702b) — Louis XV Chassant le Cerf dans la Forêt de Saint Germain (1730) _ Fils du peintre Jacques Oudry, Jean-Baptiste développe un sens aigu de la vie animale et du paysage, qui amènent Louis XV à lui commander en 1728 une scène de chasse. Le tableau se présente comme un épisode pris sur le vif de la vie de cour au XVIIIe siècle, et témoigne d'un immense souci de précision dans les détails: chaque personnage est traité comme un portrait à part entière, et est parfaitement identifiable. Jean-Baptiste Oudry s'est lui-même représenté en bas à droite, en train de dessiner la scène, confirmant ainsi qu'il a peint cette toile d'après nature. De même, les chiens adoptent des attitudes très individualisées, et le peintre semble avoir traduit le caractère propre de chaque animal. Une attention particulière est également apportée au paysage qui présente une multitude de plans; ainsi, dans le lointain, se devine la ville de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Une grande variété des mouvements et des attitudes, associée à une composition soignée, donne à cette oeuvre une grande qualité décorative, parfaitement reconnue en son temps: en effet, le roi acheta l'oeuvre dès 1730, et la fit immédiatement placer dans son cabinet de Marly. — Laie et ses marcassins attaqués par des dogues (1748, 258x400cm). |
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Born on 30 April 1504: Francesco
Primaticcio (or Primatice, Primadizzi) di Bologna, Italian
Mannerist
painter, sculptor, draftsman, stuccoist, and architect, active in France,
who died in 1570 (between 02 Mar and 14 Sep). — Primaticcio was the head of the First School of Fontainebleau, and a universal impresario - painter, sculptor, architect, interior decorator. He learned these arts under Giulio Romano in the Palazzo del Tè at Mantua, from 1526 until 1532, when he was summoned to France by François I and began to work at Fontainebleau, where he met Rosso Fiorentino . From 1540 until 1542 he was in Rome buying for François I, and on his return he found that Rosso was dead and Cellini had arrived (Cellini later threatened to kill him 'like a dog' {by biting him?}. Certainly that was not at all “benvenùto”.). With Niccolò dell'Abbate he worked on the (now lost) decorations of the Galerie d'Ulysse at Fontainebleau, and in 1546 he was again in Rome to get casts made, including Michelangelo's Pietà in Saint Peter's, while in 1563 he revisited Bologna, his native town, and met Vasari there. His main contribution is the combination of painted and high relief stucco decoration evolved at Fontainebleau and still partially preserved there. —Portrait of Oudry (1753, 131x105cm; 700x530pix, 190kb) by Jean-Baptiste Perronneau _ Le riche costume d'Oudry le montre au sommet de sa gloire devant une esquisse de chiens de chasse de Louis XV. — LINKS — Mercy (600x476pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1111pix) — The Holy Family with Saints Elisabeth and John the Baptist (1543, 44x31cm) _ Formerly the painting was attributed to Parmigianino, then Pontormo, later to Tibaldi {so who will it be next, after Primaticcio?}. — The Abduction of Helene (1539, 155x188cm) _ Painter, decorator and architect, Primaticcio was a member of the group of artist who worked on the decoration of Palazzo del Te in Mantua under the direction of Giulio Romano. In 1532 he went to Fontainebleau where he worked together with Rosso Fiorentino whom he succedeed as head of the the Fontenebleau decoration after the death of Rosso. There are only a few surviving finished works by him, mostly with mythological subjects. |
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Died on 30 April 1657: Jacques
de Stella, French painter, draftsman, and engraver, born
in Lyon on 19 September 1596. — Stella is an example of a painter who was a star, enjoying great esteem in his lifetime, both as an artist and a patron (of Nicolas Poussin), but whose work is no longer appreciated (except by people of good taste who realize that much of what passes for modern art is just a con game by lazy artists who have been equalled or surpassed by a gorilla such as Michael [died 19 Apr 2000] and elephants such as the Toledo zoo's Renée and others.). Most of the early part of de Stella's career was spent in Italy, both in Florence and Rome, and he must have been strongly influenced by the small Madonnas of Raphael. He became a friend of Poussin in Rome and acquired numerous pictures by him, including the Venus and Aeneas now at Rouen. Poussin influenced Stella's sweetly decorative style (which is similar in scale and charm to that of Lubin Baugin) to the point where his pictures became cold and hard and lacking in sentimentality. Unusually for a Frenchman, Stella sometimes painted on a precious ground such as lapis-lazuli or marble, allowing the pattern of the stone to form part of the composition. — Stella was the son of François Stellaert [1563–1605], a painter and dealer of Flemish origin who had worked in Italy and had settled in Lyon. He died too early to have trained Jacques, who perhaps received his first lessons from the painter Horace Le Blanc, who had returned from Italy in 1610 to Lyon, his native town. About 1619 Stella went to Italy, staying first in Florence, where he worked for Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and met Nicolas Poussin. This Florentine period was decisive in Stella’s training: he came under the influence of such Mannerist artists as Jacques Callot, to whose work Stella’s early engraving the Feast of the Knights of St John (1621) has resemblances, and Jacopo Ligozzi. The painting Lucius Albinus and the Vestal Virgins also dates from this period, and its busy, slightly maladroit composition and its details inspired by the Antique indicate contacts with the art of northern painters working in Italy, such as Adam Elsheimer and Pieter Lastman. In 1623 Stella was in Rome, where he lived for about ten years. His friendship with Poussin grew, and he came into contact with a variety of other influences, including the art of Raphael, the Carraci and Domenichino. He also acquired a taste for realistic detail, often of a rustic and sometimes even of a macabre kind, and for the effects of nocturnal light, as in the drawing Olympia Abandoned by Birrenus (1633). His activity at this time was concentrated principally in two fields: drawings for engraved illustrations, including a series of 45 sheets on the Life of Filippo Neri as well as an Allegory of the Death of Cardinal Scipio Borghese (1633); and small paintings on slate, marble or hardstone, such as Suzanna and the Elders and Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (1631). Despite a brief period in prison in 1633, Stella enjoyed a considerable reputation, so much so that Philip IV of Spain proposed that he come to his court, an offer that Stella declined. — Martin de Charmois was a {charming?} student of Stella. — LINKS — Christ Served by the Angels — Minerva and the Muses (1645, 116x162cm) _ Stella's art, although sometimes influenced by Poussin in terms of its composition, was often very much more light-hearted. Although he sometimes used Poussinesque figures in his larger compositions, Stella never interested himself in the moral and intellectual side of Poussin's art. The mythological story depicted in this painting is the following. Minerva (Greek “Pallas Athena”) was one of the major deities of ancient Greece and Rome, and, like Apollo, a benevolent and civilizing influence. In Greek mythology she was the daughter of Jupiter (Zeus), and sprang fully armed from his head. The familiar figure in armor with spear, shield and helmet, the patroness of institutions of learning and the arts, seen in civic heraldry, sculpture and painting, is only one of her many aspects. In an early form she was a war goddess, hence her weapons. She was the patroness of Athens, and the Parthenon was her temple. Ovid describes (Metamorphoses 5: 250-268) how Minerva visited the Muses on Mount Helicon, their home, to listen to their song and story and to see the sacred spring, the Hippocrene, which flowed from a rock after it had been struck by the hoof of the winged horse, Pegasus. The scene is a wooded mountain-side where the company of Muses are playing their instruments or perusing books. Pegasus is seen in the background. The association of Minerva and the Muses was in line with the tradition that made her patroness of the arts.
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Born on 30 April 1804: Richard
Redgrave, British painter, etcher and administrator, who
died on 14 December 1888. Brother of Samuel Redgrave. — After entering the Royal Academy as a student in 1826, Redgrave was elected a Fellow in 1851. He was among the first British painters to turn to realistic social subjects in the 1840s; among these are The Emigrant's Last Sight of Home with a family bidding farewell to the English countryside, Going Into Service, The Seamtress, and The Poor Teacher. He painted Ophelia Weaving Her Garlands in 1842, about the time that he was turning to this realism that sometimes borders on criticism of nineteenth-century economic and social realities. With his brother Samuel he published A Century of Painters (1866), a study with valuable insights into nineteenth-century art and some of the painters who contributed paintings on Shakespeare. — Richard Redgrave trained initially as a clerk and draftsman in his father’s counting-house before becoming a student at the Royal Academy Schools in 1826; he also studied with John Powell. About 1830 he left his father’s firm and supported himself as a drawing-master, working in watercolor before attempting to paint in oil. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1825 until failing eyesight afflicted him in 1883. He was elected ARA in 1840 and RA in 1851. He also contributed to the British Institution and the Royal Society of British Artists from the late 1820s to the 1840s. — LINKS — The Heron Disturbed (1850, 34x50cm; 667x975pix, 119kb _ ZOOM to 1323x1963px, 498kb) — Strayed Lambs (1862, 50x75cm) — Young Lady Bountiful (1860, 50x76cm) — The Emigrant's Last Sight of Home (1858, 68x98cm) _ Many families left Britain during the 1840s and 1850s, forced to seek their fortune elsewhere by hardship and economic depression. Redgrave was one of several artists who recorded the plight of such emigrants. This picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1859 accompanied by lines from Oliver Goldsmith's poem The Traveller. This begins: 'Have we not seen, round Britain's peopled shore, Her useful sons exchanged for useless ore?'. The village that the family prepare to leave is that of Abinger in Surrey, where Redgrave owned a cottage. — Ministering Angels (1857 etching 12x10cm) — Ophelia Weaving Her Garlands (1842, 64x76cm) This painting refers to these words of Gertrude in Act IV, Scene vii of Hamlet: "There is a willow grows ascant the brook, / That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream. / Therewith fantastic garlands did she make / Of crowflowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples. . . ." Ophelia is occupied in making 'fantastic garlands' of 'Crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples.' She is pale--woe-begone--and her restless, fevered eyes, bespeak a mind diseased. The painting of her dress, which is white, resembles the manner of some of the old masters, a feeling which is extended to the banks of the brook, this part of the work being enamelled on the canvass like the foreground of some of Giorgione's garden scenes. The figure is an admirable embodiment of the poet's character, and the landscape is painted with a finish and attention to detail whichc ould be called 'Pre-Raphaelism'. The composition and setting are classical and the details of the tree-trunk, the flowers, and Ophelia's gown are masterful; the "mind diseased" is, however, not so obvious if one does not know the source of the painting and the story of Ophelia. Her face has about it more of a traditional Italian Madonna than a love-sick, half-crazed girl. — Country Cousins (1848, 82x107cm) _ Redgrave claimed that 'many of my best efforts in art have aimed at calling attention to the trials and struggles of the poor and the oppressed'. Country Cousins lacks much of the power that is found in Redgrave's best works and its moral is not at first obvious. It is only the picture over the fireplace which makes the theme clear. It is an illustration of Christ's parable of Dives and Lazarus: the rich man at his table, the poor man at his gate. Redgrave's picture possesses a similar moralizing tone to that applied by his friend William Collins to Sunday Morning. |
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Died on 30 April 1655: Eustache
Le Sueur (or Lesyeur, Lesueur), Parisian painter and draftsman
born on 19 November 1617. — He was one of the most important painters of historical, mythological and religious pictures in 17th-century France and one of the founders of French classicism. He was long considered the ‘French Raphael’ and the equal of Nicolas Poussin and Charles Le Brun. His reputation reached its zenith in the first half of the 19th century, but since then it has been in decline, largely as a result of the simplified and saccharine image of the man and his art created by Romantic writers and painters. Nevertheless, more recent recognition of the complexity of his art has resulted in a new interest in him and in his place in the evolution of French painting in the 17th century. Despite the almost total absence of signed and dated works, the chronology of Le Sueur’s oeuvre can be established with the aid of a few surviving contracts, dated engravings after his paintings and the list of works published by Le Comte in 1700. — Le Sueur is known for his religious pictures in the style of the French classical Baroque. Le Sueur was one of the founders and first professors of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Le Sueur studied under the painter Simon Vouet and was admitted at an early age into the guild of master painters. Some paintings reproduced in tapestry brought him notice, and his reputation was further enhanced by a series of decorations for the Hôtel Lambert that he left uncompleted. He painted many pictures for churches and convents, among the most important being St. Paul Preaching at Ephesus, and his famous series of 22 paintings of the Life of St. Bruno, executed in the cloister of the Chartreux. Stylistically dominated by the art of Nicolas Poussin, Raphael, and Vouet, Le Sueur had a graceful facility in drawing and was always restrained in composition by a fastidious taste. — The eighteenth century ranked Le Sueur with Nicolas Poussin and Raphael, but posterity has not esteemed him as highly. Many of his great decorative ensembles, such as Le Cabinet de l'Amour and La Chambre des Muses for the Hôtel Lambert, have been dispersed, a number of canvases have disappeared, and some of his most famous works survive in poor condition. The son of an illiterate artisan, Le Sueur was born and lived his entire life in Paris. Apprenticed as a boy to Simon Vouet, the most influential French artist of the era, he was exposed to the art of antiquity and Italian painting by visits to Parisian collections and the Chateau de Fontainebleau; and he refined his taste by contacts with the cultural leaders of seventeenth-century Paris. Vouet assisted his favorite student with commissions at the beginning of his career, but Le Sueur's reputation was firmly estabfished with Life of Saint Bruno (1648), a series of twenty-two pictures for the cloister of the Charterhouse of Paris. As a history painter, the artist became a founding member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1648, receiving commissions from royalty, the church, and private patrons. The death of this "French Raphael" at the age of thirty-eight, followed closely by many of the leading painters of his generation, cleared the way for Charles Le Brun's ascendancy to artistic dictator of France during the reign of Louis XIV. — Claude Lefèbvre was a student of Le Sueur. — Engraving by Pieter van Schuppen [1623-1696] of a Le Sueur Self-Portrait (1696, oval 25x19cm; full size) — LINKS — Sleeping Venus (1639, octagon 122x117cm; 1/4 size, 166kb _ ZOOM to half~size, 596kb _ ZOOM++ to full size, 2331kb) _ Her greenish complexion and the network of fine cracks all over her skin seem to indicate that, rather than asleep, she is dead, which would explain why she is no awoken by Vulcan hammering away in the left, unaware of concerned Cupid's signal to shush him. Is that the handle of a closed umbrella in Cupid's left hand? — Caligula Depositing the Ashes of his Mother and Brother in the Tomb of his Ancestors (167x143cm; 1146x856pix, 170kb) _ The artist was a student of Simon Vouet, but unlike his teacher he never left Paris. Le Sueur's style was based on Raphael and more immediately on Poussin. His best-known work is perhaps the series of paintings of the Life of Saint Bruno, dating from 1645-1649. Although his style became increasingly classical, he retained a certain elegance in his draftsmanship and use of color. There has been some confusion over the exact title of this imposing painting: Nero depositing the Ashes of Germanicus and the Funeral of Poppaea have both been suggested in inscriptions or commentaries to various engravings after the picture. The earliest source, however, Florent Le Comte's Cabinet des singularitez d'architecture, peinture, sculpture et gravure (1700), refers to the picture as Caligula depositing the Ashes of his Mother and Brother in the Tomb of his Ancestors. There is good reason to believe that this is the correct title since Le Comte claimed to be basing his statement on information recorded in a studio book kept by the artist and retained by the Le Sueur family. The painting, together with another entitled Lucius Albinus and the Vestal Virgins, was commissioned for Claude de Guénégaud's residence in Paris in the rue Saint-Louis-au-Marais. Both are listed under the year 1647. The second painting is now lost, but it is recorded in a drawing. The classical source for the present painting is Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars, which says of Caligula:
— Les Muses: Clio, Euterpe et Thalie (1655, 130x130cm; 1003x1004pix, 165kb) _ Le Sueur was a student of Vouet. This painting and its companion piece depicting Melpomene, Erato, and Polymnia were used to decorate the Cabinet of the Muses of the Hotel Lambert in Paris. These charming, delicately painted pictures foreshadow the coming of Poussin. The muses are the goddesses of creative inspiration in poetry, song and other arts, they are the companions of Apollo. They were the daughters of Jupiter and the Titaness Mnemosyne (memory) who had lain together for nine consecutive nights. The muses were originally nymphs who presided over springs that had the power to give inspiration, especially Aganippe and Hippocrene on Mount Helicon and the Castilian spring on Mount Parnassus. The usual attributions of these Muses (and two others not shown here) are the following: Clio, the muse of history (book, scroll or tablet and stylus). Euterpe, the muse of music, lyric poetry (flute, trumpet or other instrument). Thalia, the muse of comedy, pastoral poetry (scroll, small viol, masks). Urania, the muse of astronomy (globe and compasses, crowned with a circle of stars). Calliope, the muse of epic poetry (trumpet, tablet and stylus, books, holds laurel crown). — Les Muses: Melpomène, Érato et Polymnie (1655, 130x130cm; 760x787pix, 126kb) _ The usual attributions of these Muses are the following: Melpomene, the muse of tragedy (horn, tragic masks, sword or dagger, crown held in hand, scepters lying at feet). Erato, the muse of lyric and love poetry (tambourine, lyre, swan, a putto at her feet). Polyhymnia (or Polymnia), the muse of heroic hymns (portable organ, lute, or other instrument) — La Muse Terpsichore (1655; 116x74cm; 970x623pix, 82kb) _ The artist made no concessions to decorative charm, and the figure conforms closely to the ideals of classical antiquity. The usual attributions of this Muse are the following: Terpsichore, the muse of dancing and song (viol, lyre, or other stringed instrument, harp, crowned with flowers). — A Gathering of Friends (1642, 127x195cm; 712x1043pix, 102kb) — The Perfect Master (377kb) 19th century engraving by Charles Tamisier, with, in English, the title and the inscription: “from the original allegorical painting by Eustache Le Sueur”. — 42 images at cartelfr.louvre.fr |
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Born on 30 April 1729: chevalier
Pierre-Jacques-Antoine Volaire, French painter who died
between 1790 and 1801. — {Il ne lui manquait qu'un t pour être
Voltaire, tandis qu'Arouet
n'y avait guère de rapport.} — Pierre-Jacques Volaire came from a well-known family of painters in Toulon; his father was the city's official painter. Called le chevalier Volaire, Pierre-Jacques really began his career in 1754, when Joseph Vernet arrived, sent by Louis XV to paint French ports. Vernet took Volaire as his assistant, and they traveled together for eight years. Volaire was strongly influenced by Vernet's sharp observation and his interest in perfect finish and the effects of moonlight and precise, artificial light. By 1764 Volaire had left for Rome, where he made landscapes and seascapes until 1769. He then moved on to Naples, where night scenes became his specialty, showing silhouetted figures against vivid contrasts of cool moonlight and warm fires. Mount Vesuvius's eruption in 1771 probably prompted Volaire to paint the volcanic eruptions in moonlight that gained him a European reputation. He exhibited in Paris only three times. He was denied official recognition in France when, in 1786, he tried to sell one of his Vesuvius pictures to Louis XVI; the work of a contemporary landscape painter, especially one with sensational effects like Volaire, was not considered sufficiently dignified. Volaire also created pastels and drawings, and his works were engraved. — He was born into a family of artists in Toulon: his grandfather Jean Volaire [1660–1721] was a decorator of naval vessels and painter of religious works; his father, Jacques Volaire [1685–1768], was official painter of Toulon between 1729 and 1766 and in 1745 was commissioned to paint a large Glory of the Holy Sacrament; his uncle François-Alexis Volaire [1699–1775] was also a painter, and his cousin Marie-Anne Volaire [1730–1806] was a portrait painter. In 1755 Volaire is documented (as ‘le fils’) working on the restoration of paintings in Toulon Cathedral. In September 1754, Claude-Joseph Vernet [1714-1789] arrived in Toulon. He was painting a series of topographical views of the major French seaports for Louis XV. Almost certainly Vernet took on Volaire as an assistant in 1754 or 1755, although this is not documented until 1759. Volaire’s role in the series of ports is unknown; it may have been merely mechanical, but he could have provided expert knowledge of the military port of Toulon and French naval life. From his master Volaire learned a sharp sense of observation, a lively technique and care in the design and lighting of a painting. He was Vernet’s most inventive follower, not content to copy his master’s well-tried formulae but prepared to adapt to new aesthetic criteria. — LINKS — Vesuvius Erupting at Night (1777, 98x128cm) _ A native of Toulon, Volaire moved to Italy in 1764, settling first in Rome and then definitively in Naples in 1769. He painted numerous views of the eruption of Vesuvius, a scene that proved particularly popular for artists throughout the late eighteenth-century including most notably, besides Volaire, Joseph Wright of Derby. This popularity was perhaps a result of the avid interest in the archaeological sites at Pompeii and Herculaneum, first excavated in the 1740s. In addition, the expansion of scientific curiosity and knowledge in the Age of Enlightenment led to a considerable degree of fascination with volcanoes, particularly in France and England: for example, in Edmund Burke's concept of the sublime, William Hamilton's Observations on Mount Vesuvius of 1772, and the work of the geologist, Whitehurst. Volaire himself was an eye-witness of two eruptions, in 1771 and 1774, and Vesuvius erupting as seen from the Atrio del Cavallo with the Bay of Naples beyond is his best known composition. _ The Eruption of Maunt Vesuvius (1777, 135x226cm) _ "...This amazing mountain continues to exhibit such various scenes of sublimity and beauty at exactly the distance one would choose to observe it from -- a distance which almost admits examination and certainly excludes immediate fear. When in the silent night, however, one listens to its groaning, while hollow sighs, as of gigantic sorrow, are often heard distinctly in my apartment, nothing can surpass one's sensation of amazement...." So wrote Hester Thrale [16 Jan 1741 – 02 May 1821], one of many travelers who made Naples a destination on their Grand Tour of Europe. She was soon there after the 12 November 1785 eruption of Vesuvius. [more Thrale on Vesuvius]. The Grand Tour, popular among wealthy Englishmen during the eighteenth century, was an extended sojourn to admire classical ruins and picturesque landscapes that completed a gentleman's education. Pompeo Batoni, Canaletto, and the French Chevalier Volaire made careers in Italy making souvenir pictures for English travelers. Volaire painted more than 30 scenes of Vesuvius, among the principal natural attractions of the continent since it erupted periodically throughout the century. Volaire contrasts the moods of nature with the cool, calm water reflecting moonlight and fire juxtaposed to the violent explosion and terror. Along the bridge he includes references to Saint Januarius, protector of Naples from volcanic destruction: from left to right are a statue of the saint, a fleeing townsman holding up an image toward the mountain itself, and a drawing posted to a stone pier. — View of Gaiola (1785, 66x96cm) _ Pierre-Jacques Volaire's sensitivity to detail enriches this study of a "modern" villa built on the site of ancient Roman ruins. Volaire's scene recalls the fête galante, a fanciful vision of well-dressed men and women enjoying themselves in the open air popularized by Antoine Watteau earlier in the century. Volaire's fluent execution and lyricism fit his subject's romantic, light-hearted subject. The groups of figures are differentiated by subtle variations, from silhouetting the figures in the boat on the left to illuminating the fishmongers and their customers in the center. By the time he painted this picture, Volaire, who settled in Naples in 1769, had become a one-man assembly line for paintings of Mount Vesuvius in moonlight. These theatrical works exemplified the eighteenth century's fascination with the sublime: a noble and lofty feeling of awe inspired by natural phenomena. — Incendie d'un port, la nuit (67x100cm), copie d'un original de Joseph Vernet. — 45 prints at FAMSF |
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Died on 30 April 1883: Édouard
Manet, French Realist Impressionist painter and printmaker
born on 23 January 1832. — Manet made the transition from the realism of Gustave Courbet to Impressionism. — Born into a prosperous middle-class family, Manet spent a year in the navy before entering the studio of Thomas Couture in 1850, where he stayed until 1856. Couture encouraged strong modeling through light and dark contrasts, and copies Manet made at the Louvre, after Velázquez, Titian, and Rubens among others, nurtured a painterly style of rich color and bold brushwork. Like the realist painters, Manet chose his subjects largely from modern life. His Déjeûner sur l'herbe ( 1863) and Olympia (1863) created scandals both for their unconventional subject matter and their broad handling. A series of paintings on Spanish themes culminated with a trip to Spain in 1865 and firsthand study of works by Velazquez and Goya. At the 1867 Universal Exposition, Manet held a private exhibition, which helped solidify his leadership within the avant-garde. Charles Baudelaire, Theodore Duret, and Émile Zola supported him critically. During the 1870s he worked outdoors like the impressionists, and his work became lighter and more colorful, but he maintained hope for acceptance at the official Salons and never contributed to the impressionist exhibitions. Success came in later years with numerous commissions and portraits. By about 1879, however, he began to feel the effects of a debilitating disease that would eventually cause his death. — Édouard Manet was born in Paris into the family of August Manet, an officer in the Ministry of Justice, and his wife Eugénie-Désirée, née Fournier, daughter of a diplomat. His uncle, Edmond-Édouard Fournier, gave the boy his first lessons in drawing. In 1844-1848, Manet studied at the College Rollin, where he met his lifelong friend Antonin Proust. In 1848-1849, he was trained as a sea cadet on a voyage to Brazil, but in April 1849 he failed his naval examinations and decided to switch to painting. He entered the studio of Thomas Couture, where he studied for 6 years, between 1850 and 1856. In 1856, he took a long travel through Europe. After traveling in Germany, Austria and Italy to study the Old Masters, Manet finally found the answer to all his questionings and aspirations for light and truth in the paintings of Velasquez and Goya at the Louvre. Influenced by these masters and by the example of Courbet, a French realist painter, he gradually evolved a new technique which presented modern aspects by modern methods. In 1861, his The Spanish Singer was accepted at the Salon and won an honorable mention. But his submissions to the Salon of 1863, The Picnic among them, were rejected and appeared at the Salon des Refusés. The large canvas became the focus of scandalized critical and public attention. On 28 October 1863, Manet married Suzanne Leenhoff in Holland (See her portrait The Reading, on which Mme Manet is depicted being read to by Léon Koëlla). Manet 's wife was Dutch, two years his senior, and an excellent musician. She had been employed by August Manet to give Édouard and his brother Eugène piano lessons. After a relationship lasting more than ten years, Manet finally married Suzanne after his father's death. Léon Koëlla was Suzanne 's son, born in 1852. His father was almost certainly Manet, but he was presented as Suzanne's younger brother. Manet painted Léon Koëlla several times, the most known canvas with him is Luncheon in the Studio, on which Léon Koëlla is the central figure. An even greater scandal than that aroused by The Picnic, was caused by Olympia, shown in 1865. The public was infuriated not only by the style, but also by the subject of the picture. 'A yellow-bellied courtesan ', 'a female gorilla made of india-rubber outlined in black ', 'the Queen of Spades after her bath ', 'a parcel of nude flesh or a bundle of laundry ', and other similar characteristics appeared in newspapers. When words were exhausted some 'enthusiasts ' tried to finish with the picture physically, and it was saved only thanks to being hung high, above the reach of the fanatics. Although Manet was frequently in the company of members of the Impressionist group, Berthe Morisot, his sister-in-law since December 1874, Degas, and Monet in particular, and they regarded him as a leader, he had no wish to join their group. He was naturally irritated by the critics' tendency to confuse him with Monet. Manet 's stylistic discoveries, such as ‘there are no lines in Nature’, which led to his abandoning of the conventional outline and his shaping the forms by means of color and subtle gradation of tints, decisively influenced the Impressionists, but their representation of light and optical reactions to color were different. Manet never painted what could be called a truly Impressionist picture. In 1869, Manet met Eva Gonzalés, who became his student. During the Franco-Prussian War he joined National Guard; when in May 1871 he finally returned to Paris he found his studio partly wrecked. In 1873, his Le Bon Bock achieved considerable success at the Salon. In 1881, Manet exhibited his portraits of Henri Pertuiset and of Rochefort at the Salon, and obtained second class medal. The same year he was received into the Legion of Honor. In 1882, he exhibited for the last time at the Salon, showing Spring and Bar at the Folies-Bergère. Manet died after a long illness, which had been exhausting him for about 5 years. |
| — Édouard Manet was
born into the ranks of the Parisian bourgeoisie. His Mother, Eugenie-Desirée
Fournier, was a woman of refinement and god daughter of Charles Bernadotte,
the Crown Prince of Sweden. Édouard's father, Auguste Manet, was
a magistrate and judge who hoped that Édouard would someday follow
in his footsteps, but Édouard was destined to follow another path. Although well educated, Manet did not particularly excel within the academic environment but he showed a propensity toward drawing and the arts. His Uncle Charles Fournier encouraged Manet's appreciation for the arts and often took him and his childhood friend, Antonin Proust, on outings to the Louvre. In 1850 after serving in the merchant marines, Manet entered the studio of Thomas Couture where he studied until 1856. He was influenced by the old masters, particulary Velázquez and Goya, but Manet reasoned that ones art should reflect ideas and ideals of the present rather then the past. So disagreeing with Diderot's theory that great art only reflected the costume of the past, Manet sought instead to follow the advice of Baudelaire...to depict a contemporary realism, to be "le peintre de la vie moderne." It's worthwhile to note that it was during this time that Paris launched its massive revitalization and modernization of the city under the supervision of Baron Haussmann. Up until 1852, the city had retained its medieval infrastructure which was now becoming most inadequate due to the growing urban population. Haussmann's revitalization efforts not only affected the physical environment of Paris but the cultural and social atmosphere as well. Thousands of jobs were created as streets were widened and lengthened, store fronts redesigned, buildings torn down and redeveloped all in an effort to make Paris the most beautiful and culturally progressive city in the world. It was this modernity with which Manet chose to concern himself. Manet began his career with The Absinthe Drinker (1858), a painting depicting a debauched and solitary man amongst the shadows of the back streets of Paris. Paintings like the Absinthe Drinker, and the Old Musician (1862), portray a darker aspect of Parisian life which was quite removed from Manet's circle, but nonetheless very real. La Musique aux Tuileries (1862) peopled with Manet's friends and family celebrates fashionable society. His loose handling of paint and lack of subject separated this painting from the highly finished canvasses approved of by the academy, and accepted by the Salon. In addition, the painting's ambience anticipates the "snapshot" quality taken up so well by Degas, and developed further by the Impressionists. Spanish Guitar Player, also painted in 1862, reflected the Parisian love of "all things Spanish" and was one of Manet's first works to be accepted by the Salon. Manet put great emphasis on Salon acceptance. In fact, he believed that success as an artist could only be obtained through recognition at the Salon. Ironically, however, it was not Spanish Guitar Player which brought him his much sought after recognition but the rejected Déjeûner sur l'herbe (1863). The Salon jury of 1863 had been exceptionally brutal and thousands of paintings had been refused. To counter these refusals, the Salon des Refusés was established and it was here that Déjeûner sur l'herbe was exhibited. Although influenced by Raphael and Giorgione, Déjeûner did not bring Manet laurels and accolades. It brought criticism. Critics found Déjeûner to be anti-academic and politically suspect and the ensuing fire storm surrounding this painting has made Le Déjeûner sur l'herbe a benchmark in academic discussions of modern art. The nude in Manet's painting was no nymph, or mythological being...she was a modern Parisian women cast into a contemporary setting with two clothed men. Many found this to be quite vulgar and begged the question "Who's for lunch?" The critics also had much to say about Manet's technical abilities. His harsh frontal lighting and elimination of mid tones rocked ideas of traditional academic training. And yet, it is also important to understand that not everyone criticized Manet, for it was also Déjeûner which set the stage for the advent of Impressionism. Olympia, also painted in 1863, caused a similar uproar and the controversy surrounding these two paintings truly dismayed Manet. It was not at all his intention to create a scandal. Manet was not a radical artist, such as Courbet [10 Jun 1819 – 31 Dec 1877]; nor was he a bohemian, as the critics had thought. Recently married to Suzanne Leenhoff, the well mannered and well bred Manet was an immaculately groomed member of high society. As Henri Fantin-Latour's Portrait of Manet suggests — this man was the quintessential Parisian flaneur. But Manet's unique technical innovations intrigued the likes of Pierre Renoir and Claude Monet and set free the traditional and conservative reigns of academic painting. |
| Political
events between the years 1867-1871 were turbulent ones for Paris, and the
Franco-Prussian war left Paris besieged and defeated. Manet turned his eye
to these events in his works entitled Execution of Maximilian,
Civil War and La
Barricade. In 1870, Manet sent his family south to protect them
from the fighting in Paris and signed on as a gunner in the National Guard.
There is much primary documentation in the form of letters to family and
friends which expresses Manet's horror and dismay at the war and these paintings
stand as testaments to Manet's sentiments. The
Execution of Maximilian (1868, 252x305cm; 655x780pix, 71kb) reaches
out to Goya's Third
of May but despite its masterly influence the painting was banned
from being exhibited in Paris due to the "Frenchness" of the executioners
costume. And yet along with his expressions of political disillusionment,
Manet also continued producing works such as The
Balcony (1868, 170x124cm; 1082x762pix, 128kb), Portrait
of Émile Zola (1868), and The
Railroad (1872, 93x111cm; 758x948pix, 174kb). By 1874 Manet's reputation as experimental artist and leader of the Impressionists was firmly established. The Café Guerbois, near Manet's studio became the gathering spot for Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Degas and Pissaro and although Manet presided over the regular meeting and debates held at the café, he was not enthusiastic about his role as leader of the avant-garde. In 1874, when the Impressionists held their first exhibition at Nadar's studio, Manet refused to participate. He chose instead to remain focused on the Salon. He never exhibited in any of the eight Impressionist exhibitions and yet by no means did Manet abandon the Impressionists. He worked closely with Monet in Argenteuil during 1874 and often gave financial support to his friends who needed it. It was during this time that Manet came closest to painting in the Impressionist style. Paintings such as The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil (1874), The Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil (1874), and Monet's Boat Studio (1874) approach the notions of reflected light and atmosphere of Impressionism but Manet never becomes assimilated into the true Impressionist style. In his last great masterpiece, Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882), Manet returns again to studio painting, a somber palette and eliminated mid tones. The café concert is a theme which Manet had been treating in the late 70's in paintings such as Corner in a Café Concert and The Café. But here at Bar at the Folies-Bergères, we are no longer spectators, but participants in the painting. While the Barmaid occupies the center of the piece, the painting is filled with a menagerie of characters from seated couples to trapeze artists. Glittering chandeliers and electric lights fill the upper portion of the work. Here, as in Déjeûner sur l'herbe, optical contradictions abound. Throughout his oeuvre Manet painted modern day life, yet many of his paintings are so much more than simple mimetic depictions. If Manet's work seems to be full of contradictions, or to employ a lack of perspective from time to time, then perhaps that was the true reality of Paris in Manet's time. Always controversial, Manet sought to record the days of his life using his own unique vision. From beggars, to prostitutes, to the bourgeoisie he sought to be true to himself and to reproduce “not great art, but sincere art.” Some of his sincere art was not so great, in fact there is at least one of his paintings which was — there is no other word for it — a lemon. Manet died in Paris. |
| — LINKS
— Self-portrait with palette (1879; 600x488pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1139pix) — Self-portrait with skull~cap (1879; 1124x738pix, 115273b) — Execution of Maximilian of Austria by Mexican Rebels (1868, 252x305cm) — Head of Christ (1865, 47x39cm; 2/3 size, 158kb) in pain from crown of thorns and whip mark on shoulder. — A Friar at Prayer (1864; 1121x881pix, 124469b) — Le Vieux Musicien (1862; 850x1123pix, 175029b) — L'enfant aux cerises (1859; 600x496pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1157pix) — Chez la Modiste (1881; 85x74cm; 2/5 size, 237kb _ ZOOM to 4/5 size, 956kb) — Sur la plage à Boulogne (1869, 540x1122pix, 117692b) — Le port de Calais (1871) — La corrida (1865 _ ZOOM to 1400x1680pix) — Jeune homme épluchant une poire (Léon Leenhoff) (1869; 600x492pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1147pix) — Argenteuil (1874) — Le Grand Canal à Venise (Venise bleue) (1874) _ a different Le Grand Canal à Venise (1874) — Bateaux de Pêche sur la Plage, Saint-Pierre-en-Porte, Normandie (1873, 48x64cm; 1/3 size _ ZOOM not recommended to fuzzy 2/3 size) — Le Déjeûner sur L'Herbe (1863, 214x269cm; 870x1122pix, 193kb _ ZOOM to 1400x1760pix) — Les Hirondelles (1874) — Stéphane Mallarmé (1876 _ ZOOM to 1400x1867pix)_ French poet Mallarmé [18 Mar 1832 – 09 Sep 1898] was an originator, with Paul Verlaine [30 Mar 1844 – 08 Jan 1896], and a leader of the Symbolist movement in poetry. — Emmanuel Chabrier (1880) _ Chabrier [18 Jan 1841 – 13 Sep 1894] was a French composer whose best works reflect the verve and wit of the Paris scene of the 1880s and who was a musical counterpart of the early Impressionist painters. — Émile Zola (1868; 600x460pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1073pix) _ Zola [02 Apr 1840 – 28 Sep 1902] was the most prominent French novelist of the late 19th century. As a critic he was noted for his theories of naturalism, which underlie his monumental 20-novel series Les Rougon-Macquart. As a political activist he is remembered for his intervention in the Dreyfus Affair through his famous open letter J'accuse. —here is at least one of his paintings which was — there is no other word for it — a lemon. Manet died in Paris. Henri Rochefort (1881; 600x460pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1073pix) _ Victor-Henri Rochefort [31 Jan 1830 – 30 June 1913] was a French polemical journalist under the Second Empire and the Third Republic, an extremist of the left and later of the right. — La Rochenoire peintre d'animaux (1882, 55x35cm; 1101x687pix, 191kb) _ Émile Charles Julien de La Rochenoire [1825 – 1899] painted pictures like Jeune taureau dans la vallée d'Auge (1868, 138x200cm; 512x724pix, 58kb). — Jeanne: printemps (1881; 1113x782pix, 226kb) — Autumn, Portrait of Mery Laurent in a Brown Fur Cape (1881) — Un bar aux Folies-Bergères (1882 _ ZOOM to 1400x1885pix) — L'église du Petit Montrouge (1870, 62x50cm) _ Painted in the open air at the very end of December, this picture shows Manet’s immediate impression of a bleak, midwinter scene. The bold brushstrokes suggest that he worked at great speed (it would have been cold!), and his muted palette of browns, beige, grey and white convey the dull daylight of midwinter. The painting was made during the Franco-Prussian war (July 1870 - May 1871), when Manet, a member of the French National Guard, was stationed in Montrouge on the outskirts of Paris. — Corner of a Café-Concert (1880) _ Corner of a Café-Concert _ This work was originally the right half of a painting of the Brasserie de Reichshoffen, begun in about 1878 and cut in two by Manet before he completed it. This half was then enlarged on the right and a new background was added. The Brasserie de Reichshoffen was in the Boulevard Rochechouart, Paris. At the time, brasseries with waitresses were fairly new in the city. — At the Café (1880) _ This is the left half of the painting of which the right half is Corner of a Café-Concert. — Corner of a Café-Concert and At the Café rejoined (even if they don't quite match any more). — Singer at a Café-Concert. (1879) — At the Café-Concert (1879, 47x39cm) _ Toward the end of his career, Manet, a pioneering realist, undertook several paintings depicting scenes in the interior of the Brasserie de Reichshoffen in Paris. The most developed of these, At the Café Concert, shows an older gentleman and a young woman seated at the counter in a crowed café. An image of the singer is reflected in the mirror on the back wall. Because of these figures' dispassionate expressions and their self-absorption, At the Café Concert has been interpreted as an indictment of the isolation of the individual in modern society. — The Barque of Dante (after Delacroix) (1854, 38x46cm; 644x800pix _ ZOOM to 1400x1727pix) — 164 images at WebShots — Le Fumeur (1866, 100x81cm) |
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Born on a 30 April: 1798 Charles-Auguste van den Berghe, Belgian artist who died on 17 November 1853. — Related? to Frits Van den Berghe [03 Apr 1883 – 23 Sep 1939]? PLEASE
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