Jean Achard
Encyclopedia
Jean Alexis Achard (1807–1884) was a French
painter
.
, Isère
, into a farming family, Jean Alexis Achard was self-taught and started his career as a clerk for a lawyer
. He began his apprenticeship by copying paintings at the Museum of Grenoble
. He then attended the free municipal school of Grenoble, and met the Lyon school painters who gave him his first tutelage. Isidore Dagnan
was his teacher from 1824 to 1830. At 27, he moved to Paris and copied the Dutch
masters at the Louvre
.
He made an expedition organized by the St. Simonians
and thus lived in Egypt
between 1835 and 1837 with his friend Victor Sappey
. He bought landscapes and genre scenes when he came back to France. Thus, he exhibited at the Salon (Paris) in 1838, Vue prise aux environs du Caire, and then regularly thereafter, as in 1843 with Vue de la vallée de Grenoble.
In 1846, he attended the Barbizon School
and became friends with the painters Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
, Théodore Rousseau
, Charles-François Daubigny
and Narcisse Virgilio Díaz
, on whom he had a certain influence and who taught him to paint in the pattern of the Paris region. He also stayed in Auvers-sur-Oise
for a while.
Between 1858 and 1859, he lived in Honfleur
and lived in the Saint-Siméon farm, with Eugène Boudin
and Claude Monet
. He became sick and suffered thru serious financial difficulties, and finally died in 1870 in Grenoble. He is buried at Saint Roch Cemetery
.
landscapes, which earned him the title of "master of the landscape in Dauphiné". He is the creator of the École dauphinoise, whose notable members were Laurent Guétal, Ernest Victor Hareux, Charles Bertier and a few others.
Several works by Achard are kept at the Museum of Grenoble, including Paysage, vue de Saint-Egrève (près de Grenoble) and La chaumière. His other works can be seen in Paris at the Louvre
, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chambéry, the Musée du Château de Fontainebleau
.
s. The first printings were created after his paintings (for a large dissemination of his works), and cover major horizons. Thereafter, he focused on more local views of woodlands.
was his pupil when he was in Paris. But after his come back in Grenoble, his influence was considerable, especially on Laurent Guétal, Charles Bertier and Édouard Brun who eagerly followed his advice. He was a teacher and an adviser for the generation of young Dauphiné painters in Proveysieux
, including Théodore Ravanat
, Jacques Gay
, Henri Blanc-Fontaine
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
Biography
Born in VoreppeVoreppe
Voreppe is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France....
, Isère
Isère
Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...
, into a farming family, Jean Alexis Achard was self-taught and started his career as a clerk for a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. He began his apprenticeship by copying paintings at the Museum of Grenoble
Museum of Grenoble
The Museum of Grenoble is a city museum of Fine Arts and antiques in the city of Grenoble in France.Located on the left bank of the Isère, place Lavalette, it is known both for its collections of ancient art for its collections of modern and contemporary art..-History:The Museum of Grenoble was...
. He then attended the free municipal school of Grenoble, and met the Lyon school painters who gave him his first tutelage. Isidore Dagnan
Isidore Dagnan
Isidore Dagnan, a French landscape painter, was born at Marseilles in 1794, and died in Paris in 1873. Among his pictures, which consist chiefly of views in Southern France, Italy, and Switzerland, are the following:...
was his teacher from 1824 to 1830. At 27, he moved to Paris and copied the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
masters at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
.
He made an expedition organized by the St. Simonians
Saint-Simonianism
Saint-Simonianism was a French political and social movement of the first half of the 19th century, inspired by the ideas of Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon ....
and thus lived in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
between 1835 and 1837 with his friend Victor Sappey
Victor Sappey
Victor Sappey , also known as Pierre-Victor Sappey, is a French sculptor. His father was a stonemason.-Biography:...
. He bought landscapes and genre scenes when he came back to France. Thus, he exhibited at the Salon (Paris) in 1838, Vue prise aux environs du Caire, and then regularly thereafter, as in 1843 with Vue de la vallée de Grenoble.
In 1846, he attended the Barbizon School
Barbizon school
The Barbizon school of painters were part of a movement towards realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870...
and became friends with the painters Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was a French landscape painter and printmaker in etching. Corot was the leading painter of the Barbizon school of France in the mid-nineteenth century...
, Théodore Rousseau
Théodore Rousseau
Pierre Étienne Théodore Rousseau , French painter of the Barbizon school, was born in Paris, of a bourgeois family.-Youth:At first he received a business training, but soon displayed aptitude for painting...
, Charles-François Daubigny
Charles-François Daubigny
Charles-François Daubigny was one of the painters of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of Impressionism....
and Narcisse Virgilio Díaz
Narcisse Virgilio Díaz
Narcisse Virgilio Díaz de la Peña was a French painter of the Barbizon school.Diaz was born in Bordeaux to Spanish parents. At the age of ten, Diaz became an orphan, and misfortune dogged his early years. His foot was bitten by a reptile in Meudon wood, near Sèvres, where he had been taken to live...
, on whom he had a certain influence and who taught him to paint in the pattern of the Paris region. He also stayed in Auvers-sur-Oise
Auvers-sur-Oise
Auvers-sur-Oise is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is associated with several famous artists, the most prominent being Vincent van Gogh.-History:...
for a while.
Between 1858 and 1859, he lived in Honfleur
Honfleur
Honfleur is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie...
and lived in the Saint-Siméon farm, with Eugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin
Eugène Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors.Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores...
and Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. He became sick and suffered thru serious financial difficulties, and finally died in 1870 in Grenoble. He is buried at Saint Roch Cemetery
Saint Roch Cemetery
Saint Roch Cemetery is the first municipal cemetery in the city of Grenoble, France. Blessed by the bishop of Grenoble Claude Simon on 19 august 1810...
.
Paintings
Achard is known for his paintings of DauphinéDauphiné
The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
landscapes, which earned him the title of "master of the landscape in Dauphiné". He is the creator of the École dauphinoise, whose notable members were Laurent Guétal, Ernest Victor Hareux, Charles Bertier and a few others.
Several works by Achard are kept at the Museum of Grenoble, including Paysage, vue de Saint-Egrève (près de Grenoble) and La chaumière. His other works can be seen in Paris at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chambéry, the Musée du Château de Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
.
Printings
Achard was also a renowned printer, with over sixty etchingEtching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
s. The first printings were created after his paintings (for a large dissemination of his works), and cover major horizons. Thereafter, he focused on more local views of woodlands.
Pupils
Henri HarpigniesHenri Harpignies
Henri-Joseph Harpignies was a French landscape painter of the Barbizon school.He was born at Valenciennes. His parents intended for him to pursue a business career, but his determination to become an artist was so strong that it conquered all obstacles, and he was allowed at the age of...
was his pupil when he was in Paris. But after his come back in Grenoble, his influence was considerable, especially on Laurent Guétal, Charles Bertier and Édouard Brun who eagerly followed his advice. He was a teacher and an adviser for the generation of young Dauphiné painters in Proveysieux
Proveysieux
Proveysieux is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France....
, including Théodore Ravanat
Théodore Ravanat
Théodore Ravanat was a French landscape painter. Ravanat's work is mostly composed of Dauphiné landscapes...
, Jacques Gay
Jacques Gay
Jacques Gay was a French painter.-Biography:Jacques Gay was a pupil of Firmin Gauthier and Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris. He is a painter of genre works, a portraitist and a landscaping, and painted many rural scenes...
, Henri Blanc-Fontaine
Henri Blanc-Fontaine
Henri Blanc-Fontaine was a French painter. He was a genre painter, a portraitist, a landscaping, and made many still lifes.-Biography:...
.
Legacy
Achard was widely represented in his friends and students' works, including :- Victor SappeyVictor SappeyVictor Sappey , also known as Pierre-Victor Sappey, is a French sculptor. His father was a stonemason.-Biography:...
(several ink or pencil drawings, Library of Grenoble) - Eugene Faure (Museum of Grenoble)
- Henri DingHenri DingHenri Ding was a French sculptor.Ding's most famous work is the Fontaine des trois ordres on the place Notre-Dame in Grenoble...
(sculpture, Museum of Grenoble) - Henri Blanc-FontaineHenri Blanc-FontaineHenri Blanc-Fontaine was a French painter. He was a genre painter, a portraitist, a landscaping, and made many still lifes.-Biography:...
- Jacques GayJacques GayJacques Gay was a French painter.-Biography:Jacques Gay was a pupil of Firmin Gauthier and Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris. He is a painter of genre works, a portraitist and a landscaping, and painted many rural scenes...
(pencil drawing, Musée dauphinoisMusée dauphinoisThe Musée dauphinois is a county museum, located in Grenoble .The museum was founded in 1906 by the ethnographer Hipollyte Müller....
) - Stéphane Baron (Paris, Musée de l'Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris)
- Eugène BoudinEugène BoudinEugène Boudin was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors.Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores...
(1867 watercolor, representing Achard, Johan Barthold Jongkind, Emile van MarckeEmile van MarckeEmile van Marcke was a French cattle painter, born at Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine.He studied under Troyon at Barbizon. He received the cross of the Legion of Honor in 1872 and a gold medal at the Paris exhibition...
and Claude MonetClaude MonetClaude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
) - Jules Bernard (Achard on his deathbed)
Exhibitions
- Jean Achard peintures, Museum of Grenoble, 1984-1985
- Trois maîtres du paysage dauphinois au XIXe siècle, Jean Achard, Laurent Guétal, Charles Bertier, Museum of Grenoble, 2005-2006
- Jean Achard, un paysagiste à l'école de de la nature, Musée Hébert de La TroncheLa TroncheLa Tronche is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Isère department...
, 2008-2009
