Seungyong Chang: Artist of the Week

Sunday, February 14, 2021

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: 63. Théodore Rousseau, ACJ Art Academy

Born: April 15, 1812; Paris, France
Died: December 22, 1867; Barbizon, France
Nationality: French
Art Movement: Realism, Barbizon school
Genre: landscape
Field: painting
Influenced on: Narcisse-Virgilio Diaz
Friends/Co-workers: Jean-Francois Millet, Camille Corot

Théodore Rousseau was a French painter of the Barbizon school, born in a bourgeois family in Paris, France.

Théodore Rousseau

He had exhibited six works in the Salons of 1831, 1833, 1834 and 1835, but in 1836, one of his masterpieces, “Paysage du Jura”, was rejected at the Salon exhibition.

La descente des vaches dans le Jura
Théodore Rousseau

Then, between 1836 and 1841, he submitted a total of eight additional works to the Salon, but none of them were accepted. Disappointed by this, Rousseau no longer sent his works to the Salon until 1849, when all three of his submissions were accepted.

In 1851, his masterpiece "The Edge of the Forest", similar in treatment to, but slightly different in subject from, the work "A Glade in the Forest of Fontainebleau”, in the Wallace Collection at Hertford House, London, was exhibited.

Edge of the Forest at Fontainebleau, Setting Sun
Théodore Rousseau

A Glade in the Forest of Fontainebleau
Théodore Rousseau, Wallace Collection

Wallace Collection

Rousseau only occasionally had lived at Barbizon until this time, but from 1848 he lived in this forest village and spent most of his remaining life nearby.

Forest of Fontainebleau

Then, Rousseau suffered a series of misfortunes, including his wife's deteriorating mental health and almost no patrons. Also, in 1863, while visiting the Alps, sketching Mont Blanc, he became seriously ill with pneumonia and, after returning to Barbizon, suffered from insomnia, making his body gradually weakened.

Mont Blanc, Alps

He was elected president of the fine-art jury for the 1867 Exposition, but in August he became paralyzed. He recovered slightly, but again suffered several times in the fall.

His condition worsened in November 1867, and he eventually died in the presence of his lifelong friend and most admired painter Jean-François Millet, on December 22, 1867, who assumed charge of Rousseau's ill wife at his death.

The Sheepfold, Jean François Millet

Famous Works (Théodore Rousseau)

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Sunday, January 31, 2021

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: 62. Théodore Géricault, ACJ Art Academy

Born: September 26, 1791; Rouen, Normandy, France

Died: January 26, 1824; Paris, France

Nationality: French

Art Movement: Romanticism

Field: Painting, lithography

Influenced by: John Constable, Peter Paul Rubens, Michelangelo, Titian, Diego Velázquez, Rembrandt, Antoine-Jean Gros, Henry Fuseli, John Singleton Copley

Influenced on: Eugene Delacroix, Piotr Michałowski, Ary Scheffer

Teachers: Carle Vernet, Pierre-Narcisse Guérin

Théodore Géricault was a French painter and lithographer who was one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement.

Born in Rouen, France, Géricault learned art from Carle Vernet and Pierre-Narcisse Guérin.

Portrait of Carle Vernet, Robert Lefevre

Portrait of Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, Robert
Lefèvre

Then, from 1810 to 1815, he studied paintings at the Louvre, where he copied paintings by Rubens, Titian, Velázquez and Rembrandt.

The Louvre Museum

His first major work, "The Charging Chasseur," showing the influence of the style of Rubens and his interest in depicting contemporary themes, was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1812.

The Charging Chasseur, Théodore Géricault

He exhibited “The Wounded Cuirassier” at the Salon in 1814, but he was disappointed by the lesser reactions than before, and entered the army and served in the garrison of Versailles.

The Wounded Cuirassier, Théodore
Géricault

He was fascinated by Michelangelo while traveling to Florence, Rome, and Naples from 1816 to 1817, and his series of lithographs on military subjects after returning from Italy is considered some of the earliest masterpieces in the field of lithography.

His most famous painting is "The Raft of the Medusa (1818-19)," depicting the incident on the French shipwreck, Meduse, where the captain had left the crew and passengers to die.

The Raft of the Medusa, Théodore Géricault

Géricault's dramatic interpretation of the incident, which has become a national scandal, presented its tragedy on a monumental scale. The painting aroused political controversy when it was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1819, but it was highly praised at the 1820 British exhibition.

The frigate Méduse sailing

Géricault, who returned to France in 1821, drew a series of ten portraits depicting psychiatric patients of Dr. Étienne-Jean Georget, one of the pioneers in psychiatric medicine, among which five portraits, including "Insane Woman" remain.