Ingres.pdf

Ingres Jean-August-Dominique Ingres (1780 1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. Although he thought of himself as a painter of history in the tradition of Nicolas Poussin and Jacques-Louis David, by the end of his life it was his portraits, both painted and drawn, that were recognized as his greatest legacy.

Napoleon on his Imperial Throne 1806, oil on canvas, 260 x 163 cm, Muse de l'Arme, Paris Click on the portrait of Napoleon, and compare the textures in this portait with those of Rembrandt or Franz Hals, done in the 1600s.

Apotheose Homers 1827, Louvre

Madame Jacques-Louis LeBlanc (Francoise Poncelle) 1823 , The Metropolitan Museum, USA Ingres did over two dozen preliminary drawings in preparation for this painting. His work is clear and sharp and seems more like a photograph than a painting.

Madame Marie Marcotte, 1826 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Ingres_Madame_Marie_Marcotte.jpg Click on this link and look for brushstrokes. Do you see any? Ingres believed that it is imperative for the brushstrokes to be blended, to create a pleasing surface.

Princesse Albert de Broglie, 1853 Oil on canvas, 47 3/4 x 35 5/8 inches Metropolitan Museum of Art, Manhattan Again, click on the picture above. The first color photograph was not taken until 1861. The amazing realism of the fabric is one of Ingres trademarks.

Louis-Francois Bertin 1832, oil on canvas, 116 x 96 cm, Louvre The critics came to regard Ingres as the standard-bearer of classicism against the romantic school - a role he relished. The paintings, primarily portraits, that he sent to the Salon in 1827 and 1833 were well received. The portrait of Louis-Franois Bertin (1832) was a particular success with the public, who found its realism spellbinding, although some of the critics found its naturalism vulgar and its coloring drab.

Marcotte d'Argenteuil (Charles-Marie-Jean-Baptiste Marcotte) 1810

Franois-Marius Granet, 72cm x 61cm, 1807, Aix-en-Provence, Muse Granet

Madame de Senonnes, 1,06m x 84cm, 1815, Nantes, Muse des Beaux-Arts

Change of public tastes Ingres was regarded as an effective teacher and was beloved by his students at the cole de France, where he taught the neo-classical style. Though he insisted that history paintings and sculpture were the highest form of art, toward the end of his life, Ingres portraits were much more popular than his history paintings, and the paintings for which he is most remembered today:

"for all the high ideals that had been drummed into Ingres at the academies in Toulouse, Paris, and Rome, such commissions were exceptions to the rule, for in reality there was little demand for history paintings in the grand manner, even in the city of Raphael and Michelangelo." Art collectors preferred "light-hearted mythologies, recognizable scenes of everyday life, landscapes, still lifes, or likenesses of men and women of their own class.

Wikipedia.org