Jean-François Gigoux

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean-François Gigoux, portrayed by Léon Bonnat (1880)
The actress Marie Dorval (litho)

Jean-François Gigoux [ ʒiɡˈuː ] (born January 8, 1806 in Besançon , † December 12, 1894 ibid) was a French painter and graphic artist. He owes his fame primarily to his book illustrations.

life and work

Gigoux first attended the art academy in his hometown, from 1828 the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris . There he became a student of Théodore Géricault and Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot , with whose support he was later able to undertake an extensive study trip to and through Italy.

After making his debut in 1831 with some lithographs and pencil drawings, he gradually switched to portrait and history painting. These lifelike, technically perfect, mostly colorful paintings, including wall paintings in churches, had both profane and sacred subjects. For example, a portrait of the not exactly pious Charles Fourier was made in 1835 . In 1880 Gigoux was portrayed conversely by his much younger painter colleague Léon Bonnat (see illustration).

After the death of the novelist Honoré de Balzac (1850), Gigoux lived with his widow, Countess Ewelina Hańska , and ran a salon with her, in which, in addition to his own pictures, he also showed an extensive art collection. In 1885 he published memoirs under the title Causeries sur les artistes de mon temps . He died in high honor at the age of 88 and is buried in the Champs Bruley cemetery in Besançon.

In its obituary for the "celebrated" artist, the New York Times wrote that book lovers admired him above all as a graphic artist, who was not a shame, attributing the extensive novel Gil Blas by his compatriot Alain-René Lesage with (600) woodcut vignettes, published in 1835 Mistake. This work is now one of the most valuable pieces of romantic book illustration. He also illustrated the 1839 edition of Abélard's letters to Heloise .

In 1926, Meyers Lexikon still emphasizes Gigoux's merits as an illustrator, as well as in the development of the art of stone printing ( lithography ). On the other hand, it is said that his "romantic" history painting has "not been kept alive".

Gigoux's picture collection stayed in his hometown and is now shown in the Musée des beaux-arts et d'archéologie de Besançon .

literature

  • Henry Jouin: Jean Gigoux: artistes et gens de lettres de l'époque romantique , Paris 1895

Exhibitions

Web links

Commons : Jean Gigoux  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A list of works (in English) can be found at smartart , accessed on August 15, 2011
  2. ^ NYT December 15, 1894 , accessed August 15, 2011
  3. ^ Meyers Lexikon , Volume 5 of the 7th edition
personal data
SURNAME Gigoux, Jean-François
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gigoux, Jean F .; Gigou, Jean François; Gigoux, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French painter and lithographer, etcher and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Besançon , France
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 1894
Place of death Besançon , France