Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes
Encyclopedia
Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (December 6, 1750 – February 16, 1819) was a French
painter.
Valenciennes worked in Rome
from 1778 to 1782, where he made a number of landscape studies directly from nature, sometimes painting the same set of trees or house at different times of day. He theorized on this idea in Advice to a Student on Painting, Particularly on Landscape (1800), developing a concept of a "landscape portrait
" in which the artist paints a landscape directly while looking upon it, taking care to capture its particular details. Although he spoke of this as a type of painting mainly of interest to "amateurs", as distinguished from the higher art of the academies
, he found it of great interest, and of his own works the surviving landscape portraits have been the most noted by later commentators. He in particular urged artists to capture the distinctive details of a scene's architecture, dress, agriculture, and so on, in order to give the landscape a sense of belonging to a specific place; in this he probably influenced other French artists active in Italy who took an anthropological approach to painting rural areas and customs, such as Hubert Robert
, Pierre-Athanase Chauvin
and Achille-Etna Michallon.
Among his students were Jean-Victor Bertin
, Achille Etna Michallon
, Louis Étienne Watelet, Louis-François Lejeune and the first French panorama painter Pierre Prévost
.
Born in the city of Toulouse
, he died in Paris and is buried there in the Père Lachaise Cemetery
.
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.
Valenciennes worked in 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...
from 1778 to 1782, where he made a number of landscape studies directly from nature, sometimes painting the same set of trees or house at different times of day. He theorized on this idea in Advice to a Student on Painting, Particularly on Landscape (1800), developing a concept of a "landscape portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
" in which the artist paints a landscape directly while looking upon it, taking care to capture its particular details. Although he spoke of this as a type of painting mainly of interest to "amateurs", as distinguished from the higher art of the academies
Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism,...
, he found it of great interest, and of his own works the surviving landscape portraits have been the most noted by later commentators. He in particular urged artists to capture the distinctive details of a scene's architecture, dress, agriculture, and so on, in order to give the landscape a sense of belonging to a specific place; in this he probably influenced other French artists active in Italy who took an anthropological approach to painting rural areas and customs, such as Hubert Robert
Hubert Robert
Hubert Robert , French artist, was born in Paris.His father, Nicolas Robert, was in the service of François-Joseph de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville a leading diplomat from Lorraine...
, Pierre-Athanase Chauvin
Pierre-Athanase Chauvin
Pierre Athanase Chauvin was a French painter active in Italy.Chauvin was a student of the landscape painter Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. He began his career at the Paris Salon in 1793 and won the First Class Medal in 1819 with his painting Charles VIII’s entry into Acquapendente...
and Achille-Etna Michallon.
Among his students were Jean-Victor Bertin
Jean-Victor Bertin
Jean-Victor Bertin was a French painter of historical landscapes, inspired by Italy and known for the minute detail of his classical style.-Life:...
, Achille Etna Michallon
Achille Etna Michallon
Achille Etna Michallon was a French painter.Michallon was the son of the sculptor Claude Michallon. He studied under Jacques-Louis David and Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. In 1817, Michallon won the inaugural Prix de Rome for landscape painting. He travelled to Italy in 1818 and remained there for...
, Louis Étienne Watelet, Louis-François Lejeune and the first French panorama painter Pierre Prévost
Pierre Prévost (painter)
Pierre Prévost was the first French panorama painter.Born in the city of Montigny-le-Gannelon, he was a student of Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes...
.
Born in the city of Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, he died in Paris and is buried there in the Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
.