Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun | |
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Louis XIV of France | |
Preceded by | Charles Errard |
Succeeded by | Pierre Mignard |
Signature | |
Charles Le Brun (French pronunciation:
Biography
Early life and training
Born in Paris, Le Brun attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier, who placed him at the age of eleven in the studio of Simon Vouet. He was also a pupil of François Perrier. At fifteen he received commissions from Cardinal Richelieu, in the execution of which he displayed an ability which obtained the generous commendations of Nicolas Poussin, in whose company Le Brun started for Rome in 1642.[3]
In Rome, he remained four years in the receipt of a pension due to the liberality of the chancellor.[3] There he worked under Poussin, adapting the latter's theories of art.[citation needed] While in Rome, Le Brun studied ancient Roman sculpture, made copies after Raphael, and absorbed the influence of the local painters.[4]
On his return to Paris in 1646, Le Brun found numerous patrons, of whom
Le Brun was the driving force behind the establishment of the
Another project Le Brun worked on was
In 1660 they established the
Success years
The nature of his emphatic and pompous talent was in harmony with the taste of the King, who, full of admiration for the paintings by Le Brun for his triumphal entry into Paris (1660)
From this date all that was done in the royal palaces was directed by Le Brun.
Work on the
In 1669, Louis XIV elected to completely renovate Versailles, which was then a tiny palace, and transform it into an opulent dwelling where he would meet with his subjects and foreign diplomats. Le Brun was in charge of its decoration down to the most minute details of arrangement and presentation. In addition to classical paintings, depictions of Louis' reign also adorned the palace walls. The whole structure and its decorations were intended to awe visitors with the splendor, wealth and taste of the king. The Escalier des Ambassadeurs was the main staircase at the entryway to Versailles from its completion in 1679 until its destruction in 1752. The king was so pleased with its appearance that he reportedly referred to it as "Monsieur Le Brun's staircase" when he showed it to an ambassador from Spain in 1679.[14]
Later years
At the death of Colbert,
Le Brun's work and legacy
Le Brun primarily worked for King Louis XIV, for whom he executed large
In his posthumously published treatise, Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions (1698), he promoted the expression of the emotions in painting. Le Brun's view on emotions, which were known as "passions" at the time, drew heavy influence from the work of René Descartes.[15] The facial expressions, which Le Brun outlined as a template for subsequent artists to follow, were believed to reveal the condition of the soul.[16] It had much influence on art theory for the next two centuries.[17]
Many of his drawings are in the
The Baroque ceiling in the Chambre des Muses at the Chateau Vaux-le-Vicomte outside Paris, was "decorated by Charles Le Brun's workshop".[18] Many of Charles Le Brun's sketches and designs were later rendered into painting or sculpture by artists working under him.[19] A restoration was completed in 2017 by the current owners, the de Vogüé family. The restored ceiling was unveiled to the public in March of that year.[20]
On 23 January 2013, artistic advisors for the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Wanda Tymowska and Joseph Friedman, announced the discovery of The Sacrifice of Polyxena, an early work of Le Brun. The picture, dated 1647, ornamented the Coco Chanel suite of the famous Parisian palace, and went unnoticed for over a century.[21][22]
Posthumously, Le Brun's reputation suffered in the years surrounding the French Revolution and its aftermath, due to his close connection with Louis XIV. By the end of the nineteenth century, the academic values he personified were out of fashion, and it was only in 1963, when a major Le Brun exhibition was organized at Versailles, that his work was reevaluated.[23] He is now considered one of the finest and most versatile French artists of his time.[24]
Partial anthology of works
Décorations:
- Decoration of the ceiling of the Galerie d'Apollon, at the Louvre Palace.
- Decoration of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte : King's room, Le Temps enlevant au Ciel la Vérité.
- Cupola of the Pavillon de l'Aurore at the Château de Sceaux.
- Galerie des Glaces, Palace of Versailles.
- Apotheosis of Romulus, cycle eight paintings for the ceiling of a room in the Hôtel d'Aumont, Paris.
Canvases:
- The Sleep of Jesus, Musée du Louvre.
- Chancellor Séguier and his suite Musée du Louvre.
- Paintings of the Story of Alexander, Musée du Louvre.
- Louis XIV presenting his sceptre and his helmet to Jesus-Christ, Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon.
- Cycle of four paintings : Air, Earth, Fire and Water, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Châlons-en-Champagne.
Publications:
- Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions (1698), posthumous publication.[25]
Gallery
-
Louis XIV Equestrian Portrait, oil on canvas, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tournai.
-
Entry of Alexander into Babylon, ca. 1664, oil on canvas, Louvre.
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Portrait of Louis XIV, 1661.
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The Queens of Persia at the feet of Alexander, also called The Tent of Darius.
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Portrait of the painter Louis Testelin, ca. 1650, oil on canvas, Louvre.
-
Daedalus and Icarus, c. 1645
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The Descent from the Cross, late 1640s
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The fall of the rebel angels, after 1680, oil on canvas, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon.
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Louis XIV Equestrian Portrait, 1668, oil on canvas, Musée de la Chartreuse de Douai.
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Apotheosis of Louis XIV, 1677, oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest).
-
Bassin d'Apollon at the Palace of Versailles, 1668–1671. Le Brun designed the centerpiece depicting Apollo rising from the sea in a four-horse chariot.
Images from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions:
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Terrour or Fright from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Attention from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Hatred or Jealousy from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Simple Bodily Pain from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Sadness from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Veneration and Rapture (1760) from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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La Colère from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Weeping from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Horror from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Scorn from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Compassion from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Fear from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
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Sadness from Méthode pour apprendre à dessiner les passions
Notes
- ^ a b Gady 2014, p. 510.
- ^ Honour & Fleming 2009, p. 604.
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911, p. 351.
- ^ Constans, Claire (2003, January 01). "Le Brun, Charles". Grove Art Online.
- ^ Williamson 1910.
- ^ Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de l'Académie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture depuis 1648 jusqu'en 1664 Archived 2019-10-14 at the Wayback Machine, Ed. Anatole de Montaiglon, Paris 1853, vol. I, p. 36.
- ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4. Archivedfrom the original on 2020-05-02. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- ^ Constans, Claire. "Le Brun, Charles" Grove Art Online. January 01, 2003. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 351–352.
- .
- ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911, p. 352.
- ISBN 0391037056.
- ^ Walsh 1999, p. 86.
- ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- ^ Le Brun, Charles (1980). A Method to Learn to Design the Passions. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.
- ISBN 0300065507.
- ISBN 0814739482.
- ^ "THE RENAISSANCE OF THE SALON DES MUSES". Vaux-le-Vicomte. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ISBN 0391037056.
- ^ "Before Versailles, There Was Vaux-le-Vicomte". Sotheby's. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
- ^ artmediaagency.com 2013.
- ^ ANSAMed.it 2013.
- ^ Constans, Claire (2003, January 01). "Le Brun, Charles". Grove Art Online.
- ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- OCLC 643780435.
References
- "Art: Le Brun found in Ritz'z Coco Chanel suite – Culture". ANSAMed.it. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- ""Sometimes the greatest discoveries are hidden in plain view". Interview with Joseph Friedman regarding the discovery of Le Brun painting at Hôtel Ritz, Paris « AMA". artmediaagency.com. 30 October 2013. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- Gady, Bénédicte (2014). "Le Brun, Charles". Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon(Artists of the World) (in German). Vol. 83. Munich: Saur. pp. 510 ff.
- ISBN 9781856695848.
- Walsh, L. (1999). "Charles le Brun, 'art dictator of France'". In Perry, G.; Cunningham, C. (eds.). Academies, museums and canons of art. New Haven: ISBN 0300077432.
- Williamson, George Charles (1910). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
Attribution
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Le Brun, Charles". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 351–352. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- ISBN 1911300059.
- Burchard, Wolf (2016). 'Les décors tissés de Charles Le Brun: Les Gobelins et la Savonnerie' in Catherine Cardinal et Laurence Riviale (eds), Décors de peintres: Invention et savoir-faire, XVIe–XXe siècles, Clermond-Ferrand. pp. 171–86.
- Legrand, J. G; Baltard, Louis-Pierre; Le Brun, Charles (1827). A series of lithographic drawings illustrative of the relation between the human physiognomy and that of the brute creation.
- Morel d'Arleux, Louis-Marie-Joseph, Dissertation sur un traité de Charles Le Brun concernant le rapport de la physionomie humaine avec celle des animaux (1827)
External links
Media related to Charles Le Brun at Wikimedia Commons