Charles Gleyre
Charles Gleyre | |
---|---|
Born | Chevilly, Switzerland | 2 May 1806
Died | 5 May 1874 Paris, France | (aged 68)
Known for | oil painting |
Notable work | Lost Illusions |
Marc Gabriel Charles Gleyre (2 May 1806 – 5 May 1874), was a Swiss artist who was a resident in France from an early age. He took over the studio of
Life
Gleyre was born in Chevilly, near Lausanne.
It was through Vernet's recommendation that he was chosen by the American traveller
On his recovery he proceeded to Paris, and, establishing a modest studio in the rue de Université, began carefully to work out the ideas which had been slowly shaping themselves in his mind. Mention is made of two decorative panels Diana leaving the Bath, and a Young Nubian as almost the first fruits of his genius; but these did not attract public attention until much later, and the painting by which he practically opened his artistic career was the Apocalyptic Vision of St John, sent to the
In spite of the success of these first ventures, Gleyre retired from public competition, and spent the rest of his life in quiet devotion to his artistic ideals, neither seeking the easy applause of the crowd, nor turning his art into a means of aggrandizement and wealth. After 1845, when he exhibited the Separation of the Apostles, he contributed nothing to the Salon except the Dance of the Bacchantes in 1849. Yet he worked steadily and was productive. He had an "infinite capacity of taking pains", and when asked by what method he attained to such marvelous perfection of workmanship, he would reply, "En y pensant toujours".[5] Many years often intervened between the first conception of a piece and its embodiment, and years not infrequently between the first and the final stage of the embodiment itself. A landscape was apparently finished; even his fellow artists would consider it done; Gleyre alone was conscious that he had not "found his sky".[5]
Gleyre became influential as a teacher, taking over the studio of Paul Delaroche – then the leading private teaching atelier in Paris – in 1843.[4] His students included Jean-Léon Gérôme, Jean-Louis Hamon, Auguste Toulmouche, Whistler and several of the Impressionists: Monet, Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille.[4] He did not charge his students a fee, although he expected them to contribute towards the rent and the payment of models. They were also given a say in the running of the school.[3]
Though he lived in almost complete retirement from public life, he took a keen interest in politics, and was a voracious reader of political journals. For a time, under
He left unfinished the Earthly Paradise, a picture, which
Notes
- ^ "Dictionnaire général des artistes de l'école française, continué par L. Auvray". 1885.
- ^ Ainger, Alfred (1901). . Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). Vol. 2. pp. 161–166.
- ^ a b "Marc-Charles-Gabriel Gleyre, 1806-1874". The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler. University of Glasgow. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Stevens, Mary Anne, ed. (1984). The Orientalists: European painters in North Africa and the Near East (Exhibition Catalogue). Royal Academy of Arts. pp. 150, 178–9.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 121–122.
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gleyre, Marc Charles Gabriel". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 121–122. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Sources
- Fritz Berthoud in Bibliothèque universelle de Geneve (1874);
- Albert de Montet, Dict. biographique des Genevois et des Vaudois (1877);
- Vie de Charles Gleyre (1877), written by his friend, Charles Clement, and illustrated by 30 plates from his works in Hersent's studio, in Suisse's academy, in the galleries of the Louvre.