Pierre Joseph Célestin François

Venus and Cupid

Pierre Joseph Célestin François (born March 29, 1759 in Namur , † March 13, 1851 in Brussels ) was a Belgian history painter, father of Ange François .

Joseph François received his first drawing lessons from Pierre Balthasar de Blocq (1729–1795) in Charleroi . De Blocq then sent him to Antwerp to André Corneille Lens (1739-1822).

He then studied at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen with Willem Jacob Herreyns .

At the end of 1778 he traveled to Italy and stayed in Rome until 1781 . He then traveled to Germany and stayed in Vienna for six months. On his return he came back to André Corneille Lens in Brussels and, thanks to his support, received numerous orders for decorative painting.

At the end of 1789 he made a second trip to Rome. In 1792 he returned to Brussels. In 1799 he married Marie-Françoise Leyniers and had five children. Under the consulate and the empire, he painted several allegorical works, including an "Allegory of the Concordat" (1802).

Joseph François was appointed professor at the Brussels Academy in 1815 and held this post until 1836. Among his students were François-Joseph Navez , Jean-Baptiste Madou and Henri Decaisne .

literature

• François, Pierre Joseph Celestin . In: Ulrich Thieme (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 12 : Fiori-Fyt . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1916, p. 373–374 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
• Berko, Patrick; Berko, Viviane, Dictionary of Belgian painters born between 1750 & 1875 ; Brussels: Laconti, 1981
• François, Pierre Joseph Célestin in: Biographical Portaal van Nederland (digitized version )

Web links

Commons : Pierre Joseph Célestin François  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pierre Joseph Célestin François. Biographical data and works in the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Dutch)
• François, Pierre Joseph Célestin in: Dictionnaire des peintres belges (digitized version )