Robert Lefèvre (painter)
Robert Jacques François Faust Lefèvre (born September 24, 1755 in Bayeux , † October 3, 1830 in Paris ) was a French portrait and history painter , mainly influenced by Jacques Louis David and classicism .
Live and act
With the consent of his parents, he broke off his apprenticeship with a procurator and went to Paris to see Jean-Baptiste Regnault . His focus was on allegorical and mythological subjects , but above all portraits interested him . In 1791 he presented his lady en velours noir in the Salon de Paris . This was the starting point for its reputation. In 1805 he portrayed the Empress Joséphine . Napoléon's bees, which he put in place of the lily, adorn its train. For this work Napoléon had a counterpart made by Louis-André-Gabriel Bouchet in 1807 . On December 6, 1807, Bonaparte donated both paintings to the city of Aachen , which today decorate the council chamber of Aachen city hall .
Lefèvre exhibited works in the Paris Salon until 1827. Dominique Vivant Denon sponsored the artist. With the portraits of Napoléon and Joséphine, of Madame Laetitia , Guérin, Antoine Charles Horace Vernet , among others, his reputation as a modern portrait artist grew. Because of his portrait of Louis XVIII. he received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor and was appointed court painter .
Numerous other portraits and historical pictures followed.
Works (selection)
- Portrait of the actress Sophie de Gevaudan, b. Thévenin Devienne (?), Signed. 1796, Oil on canvas, 96 × 74 cm (37.8 × 29.1 in). 2004 Sotheby's Paris.
- Portrait of Madame Paullet, signed, oil on canvas, 99 × 79 cm (39 × 31.1 in). 2008 on auction.
- Portrait of Dominique Nicolas Paullet, Oil on canvas, 99 × 79 cm (39 × 31.1 in). 2008 on auction.
- Portrait of Jelisaveta Alexandrovna Stroganowa , (also Elisabeth Stroganoff Demidoff; 1779–1818), Hermitage Saint Petersburg
Individual evidence
- ↑ In 1932 the portraits were still in the Suermondt Museum . S. a .: Alfons Fritz : Historical information on the pictures of Napoléon and his wife Josephine in the Suermondt Museum . In: Anton Kisa (ed.): Memorandum on the occasion of the twenty-five year existence of the Suermondt Museum . AVDG, Aachen 1903, pp. 50-53.
Web links
- Robert Lefèvre
- Works by Lefèvre on artnet
- Works by Lefèvre on arkadja
- 39 works by Lefèvre on art-gallery, u. a. the painting to the above Engraving by Napoleon.
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Lefèvre, Robert |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lefèvre, Robert Jacques François Faust (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French portrait and history painter |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 24, 1755 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Bayeux |
DATE OF DEATH | October 3, 1830 |
Place of death | Paris |