Antoine Berjon
Antoine Berjon (17 May 1754 – 24 October 1843) was a French
Berjon was born in St Pierre de Vaise, a commune near
Berjon's paintings from the 1780s are untraced. In 1791, the
By the time of his return to Lyon in 1810, his reputation had increased, and he became the professor of flower design at the newly established École des Beaux-Arts, which had been founded by Napoleon's decree in 1807 to revive Lyon's silk industry. He was dismissed in 1823 after a 13-year appointment, replaced by his gifted pupil Augustin Thierrat (1789–1870). His temperament probably put him in conflict with the school's administration; he was known for his stubbornness, and some contemporaries viewed him as egotistical, a characterization that remained throughout his life.[1] He set up his own studio in Lyon, giving private instruction, and continued to make art for the last two decades of his life. He died in Lyon at the age of 89.
Art
One of Berjon's important works is his Still Life With Flowers, Shells, a Shark's Head, and Petrifications (1819). He completed the painting while still professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. The work's detailed depictions of blossoms recall the Dutch flower painters of two centuries earlier, but the items accompanying the flowers suggest no ordinary still life. The skeletal shark's head and the seashells are at first incongruous, but show that Berjon has adapted his style to the era of the
Bouquet of Lilies and Roses in a Basket Resting on a Chiffonier (1814), held by the Louvre, is also characteristic of his work. Berjon was a portraitist as well, and his portrait work includes J. Halévy with his Brother and Sister (1820).
References
Sources
- Mitchell, Peter. "Berjon, Antoine." Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
- Rishel, Joseph J. (1982). "A Lyonnais Flower Piece by Antoine Berjon (1754-1843)". Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin. 78 (336). Philadelphia Museum of Art: 16–24. JSTOR 3795280.
- Southgate, M. Therese (January 24–31, 2007). "Still Life With Flowers, Shells, a Shark's Head, and Petrifications". JAMA. 297 (4): 340. PMID 17244821.
Further reading
- French painting 1774-1830: the Age of Revolution. New York; Detroit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Detroit Institute of Arts. 1975. (see index)