Joseph-Marie Vien
Encyclopedia
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...
, was born at Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
. He was the last holder of the post of Premier peintre du Roi
Premier peintre du Roi
The Premier peintre du Roi was a post within the administration of the Bâtiments du Roi of the département de la Maison du Roi in France under the Ancien Régime, just below the post of directeur général des Bâtiments, Arts et Manufactures de France...
, serving from 1789 to 1791.
Protected by Comte de Caylus, he entered at an early age the studio of Natoire
Charles-Joseph Natoire
Charles-Joseph Natoire was a French painter in the Rococo manner, a pupil of François Lemoyne and director of the French Academy in Rome, 1751-1775...
, and obtained the grand prix in 1745. He used his time at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in applying to the study of nature and the development of his own powers all that he gleaned from the masterpieces around him; but his tendencies were so foreign to the reigning taste that on his return to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
he owed his admission to the academy for his picture "Daedalus and Icarus" (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...
) solely to the indignant protests of François Boucher
François Boucher
François Boucher was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture...
.
When in 1776, at the height of his established reputation, he became director of the school of France at Rome, he took Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David was an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era...
with him amongst his pupils. After his return, five years later, his fortunes were wrecked by the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
; but he undauntedly set to work, and at the age of eighty (1796) carried off the prize in an open government competition. Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
acknowledged his merit by making him a senator.
Joseph-Marie Vien died in Paris, and was buried in the crypt of the Panthéon
Pantheon
-Mythology:* Pantheon , the set of gods belonging to a particular mythology* Pantheon * Pantheon, Rome, now a Catholic church, once a temple to the gods of ancient Rome* Any temple dedicated to an entire pantheon-Other buildings:...
( to date, the only painter so honored). He left behind him many other brilliant pupils, amongst whom were François-André Vincent
François-André Vincent
François-André Vincent was a French neoclassical painter.He was the son of the miniaturist François-Elie Vincent and studied under Joseph-Marie Vien. He travelled to Rome, where he won the Prix de Rome in 1768...
, Jean-Antoine-Théodore Giroust
Jean-Antoine-Théodore Giroust
Jean-Antoine-Théodore Giroust was a French neoclassical painter.In 1770, at age seventeen, Giroust started studying painting in the studio of Joseph-Marie Vien, a pioneer of Neoclassicism. Among other students was Jacques-Louis David....
, Jean-Baptiste Regnault
Jean-Baptiste Regnault
Jean-Baptiste Regnault was a French painter.Regnault was born in Paris, and began life at sea in a merchant vessel. At the age of fifteen his talent attracted attention, and he was sent to Italy by M. de Monval under the care of Bardin...
, Joseph-Benoît Suvée
Joseph-Benoît Suvée
Joseph-Benoît Suvée was a Flemish painter strongly influenced by French neo-classicism.He was born in Bruges. Initially a pupil of Matthias de Visch, he came to France aged 19 and became a pupil of Jean-Jacques Bachelier. In 1771, he won the Prix de Rome...
, Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours
Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours
Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours was a Swiss painter.Jean-Pierre was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He began studying with his father Jacques who was himself a renowned painter. He continued his studies in Paris, in 1769, with Joseph-Marie Vien...
, François-Guillaume Ménageot
François-Guillaume Ménageot
François-Guillaume Ménageot was a French painter of religious and French historical scenes. A pupil of François Boucher , he went on to win the Grand Prix de Rome and become a director of the French Academy in Rome, an academician and a member of the Institute.-Life:He was born in London, the son...
, Jean-Joseph Taillasson
Jean-Joseph Taillasson
Jean-Joseph Taillasson was a French history painter and portraitist, draftsman and art critic.Taillasson was born at Blaye, near Bordeaux...
and others of high merit; nor should the name of his wife, Marie-Thérèse Reboul
Marie-Thérèse Reboul
Marie-Thérèse Reboul was a French painter of natural history, still lifes, and flowers.She was the student and wife of Joseph-Marie Vien. Her significant paintings include a hen with her chicks, a kestrel killing a small bird, a golden pheasant from China, a brooding pigeon, and a bird of prey...
(1728–1805), herself a member of the academy, be omitted from this list. Their son, Marie Joseph, born in 1761, also distinguished himself as a painter.
Trivia
He features as a character in Balzac's SarrasineSarrasine
Sarrasine is a novella written by Honoré de Balzac. It was published in 1830 , and is part of his Comédie Humaine.-Commentary:...
(subject of S/Z
S/Z
S/Z, published in 1970, is Roland Barthes's structuralist analysis of "Sarrasine", the short story by Honoré de Balzac. Barthes methodically moves through the text of the story, denoting where and how different codes of meaning function...
by Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism, anthropology and...
).
