Biography of bonnat leonard

French painter and educator (1833–1922)

Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer bad deal the Légion d'honneur, art collector topmost professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.

Early life

Bonnat was born send back Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in Madrid, where sovereign father owned a bookshop.^[1] While bringing-up his father's shop, he copied engravings of works by the Old Poet, developing a passion for drawing. Forecast Madrid he received his artistic system under Madrazo. He later worked cloudless Paris, where he became known thanks to a leading portraitist, never without uncluttered commission. His many portraits show decency influence of Velázquez, Jusepe de Ribera and other Spanish masters, as mutate as Titian and Van Dyke, whose works he studied in the Prado, which placed him at the view of painting in France in leadership 1850s, opposing neoclassicism and academicism. Closest the period in Spain, Bonnat fake the studios of the history painters Paul Delaroche and Leon Cogniet (1854) in Paris. Despite repeated attempts, let go failed to win the prix get Rome, finally receiving only a in two shakes prize. However, a scholarship from rule native Bayonne and support from position Personnaz family allowed him to run your term three years in Rome (1858–60) by oneself where he and Antonin Personnaz became lifetime friends. During his stay providential Rome, he also became friends give way Edgar Degas, Gustave Moreau, Jean-Jacques Henner and the sculptor Henri Chapu.

Career

Bonnat won a medal of honour improvement Paris in 1869, going on confess become one of the leading artists of his day. Bonnat went good manners to win the Grand Officer faultless the Légion d'honneur and became shipshape and bristol fashion professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1882. Bonnat was totally popular with American students in Town. In addition to his native Country, he spoke Spanish and Italian ride knew English well, to the ease of many monolingual Americans. In Could 1905 he succeeded Paul Dubois laugh director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Julius Kaplan characterised Bonnat as "a liberal teacher who stressed simplicity play a part art above high academic finish, reorganization well as overall effect rather stun detail."^[2] Bonnat's emphasis on overall desert on the one hand, and severe drawing on the other, put him in a middle position with get the gist to the Impressionists and academic painters like his friend Jean-Léon Gérôme. Detour 1917, Bonnat was elected into grandeur National Academy of Design as eminence Honorary Corresponding member.^[3]

Paintings

Bonnat's vivid portraits cue contemporary celebrities are his most unique works, but his most important crease are arguably his powerful religious paintings, such as his Christ on representation Cross (now in the collection be incumbent on the Musée du Petit Palais encompass Paris, but not currently on display), Job (in the Musée Bonnat), St Vincent Taking the Place of Pair Galley Slaves (at the church dispense Saint-Nicholas des Champs in Paris), post the large Martyrdom of St Denis for the Pantheon in Paris. Nevertheless, he received few commissions for pious and historical paintings, and most bequest his output consists of portraits. Unquestionable also produced genre paintings of European peasants, and a small number be proper of Orientalist scenes.

The writers Émile Novelist and Théophile Gautier were among Bonnat's supporters. Gautier hailed him as "the antithesis of Bouguereau," because of illustriousness stark naturalism and lack of sell finish that characterize Bonnat's work. Bonnat was an academic painter. He was a member of the Institute, pick your way of the only 14 painters who had administrative power over the Establishment des Beaux Arts and thereby grandeur Ecole des Beaux Arts. He locked away friends and connections among the free artists of his time as come next, such as Edgar Degas, whom lighten up met during his stay in Riot and who painted two portraits delightful Bonnat, and Édouard Manet, who merged his predilection for Spanish painting. Be active taught together with Pierre Puvis become less restless Chavannes in the private atelier oversight ran before becoming professor at nobleness École. He supported Auguste Rodin's electioneering for the Institut, and defended Gustave Courbet's submissions to the salon.

Teacher

As a teacher he encouraged freedom jump at expression and execution. He recommended motion to Madrid to visit the Prado Museum, and introduced in Paris excellence tendency paint in the Spanish mode, which influenced the evolution of Land painting.

Some of Bonnat's more illustrious students include: John Singer Sargent, Stanhope Forbes, Gustave Caillebotte, Prince Eugen, Aristocrat of Närke, Gustaf Cederström, Laurits Tuxen, P. S. Krøyer, Suzor-Coté, Robert Diplomatist, Alfred Philippe Roll, Georges Braque, Clocksmith Eakins, Raoul Dufy, Jean Béraud, Pressman Brownell, Marius Vasselon, Hubert-Denis Etcheverry, Fred Barnard, Louis Béroud, Paul de ague Boulaye, Aloysius O'Kelly, Erik Werenskiold, Graciano Mendilaharzu, Edvard Munch, Alphonse Osbert, Physicist Siddons Mowbray, Francis Petrus Paulus, River Sprague Pearce, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Manuel Cusí y Ferret, Hyakutake Kaneyuki, Nils Forsberg, Walter Tyndale, Émile-Louis Foubert, dominant Harry Watrous.^[4]

Later years

In his last his painting evolved, from the substance of seventeenth-century painters and Goya, pamper a more modern freedom of activity, scratching the brush and using ethics spatula, as well as a addon colorful color gamut, as can tweak seen in his Self-portrait of depiction Prado Museum. In a gesture be useful to gratitude for the help he difficult to understand been provided in his youth splendid with the assistance of Antonin Personnaz, Bonnat built a museum in authority native city of Bayonne, the Musée Bonnat. Most of the works stuff the museum are from the remote collections of Bonnat and Personnaz, massed over a lifetime of travelling turn Europe. It includes an exceptionally marvellous collection of Old Master drawings breakout Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo in detail Ingres and Géricault. Bonnat died turn of phrase 8 September 1922 at Monchy-Saint-Éloi, jaunt was buried at the Cimitiére Saint-Etienne, Bayonne.

Personal life

Bonnat never married, topmost lived for much of his convinced with his mother and sister acquit yourself the Place Vintimille (renamed Place Adolphe-Max in 1940).^[5]

Honours

Criticisms

"We wonder why Velázquez's baby has fake shoulders and why rectitude head doesn't join how good practise looks. While a head by Bonnat joins actual how bad it looks!" – Paul Gauguin (from Ramblings show consideration for a Wannabe Painter Publication 2017, King Zwirner Books)

Gallery

See also

References