Étienne de La Vallée Poussin (1735–1802), also called Delavallée-Poussin in certain biographies, was a French

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and creator of interior decorative schemes.

Life

Related on his mother's side to the family of the great painter

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...

, La Vallée-Poussin was born in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

, where he attended the

école des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

, under Descamps, and made rapid progress in his studies. After having been one of the top laureates of the school three times, he went to Paris to perfect his art. Welcomed into the workshop of

Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre (6 March 1714 – 15 May 1789) was a French painter, draughtsman and administrator. Life He was a student of Charles-Joseph Natoire at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and painted a self-portrait in 17 ...

, the royal painter, he won the 1759 1e prix de l'Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture and set off for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. La Vallée-Poussin spent many years in Rome, where he was admitted to the Maltese order with the rank of "Cavalier Donato" (i.e. not of noble lineage, but given for services rendered to the order) and where he became a member of the

Academy of Arcadia The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi. History F ...

. On his return to France, he was in 1789 admitted to the Académie de Peinture, with a tableau de réception entitled ''Return of the young

Tobias Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible, ...

and his meeting his mother and father''. He died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

Collections

His work is held in the permanent collections of several institutions worldwide, including the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

, the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin F ...

, the Cooper Hewitt, the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

, the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

, the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Squ ...

, and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...

Works

Paintings

* ''The Miracle of the prophet Elijah in multiplying the oil for the poor widow'', Musée des beaux-arts de Rouen - this is the painting with which he won his Grand Prix * ''Portrait of

Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Be ...

'', Musée des beaux-arts de Rouen * ''The birth of Jesus Christ'' and ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' (two massive canvases) * ''The Flight to Egypt'' (1774) in the Chapel of the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

of the church of

Sant'Eustachio Sant'Eustachio is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, named for the martyr Saint Eustace. It is located on Via di Sant'Eustachio in the rione Sant'Eustachio, a block west of the Pantheon and via della Rotonda, and a b ...

in Rome * ''Anacreon, Sappho, Eros and a Female Dancer'' (circa 1790) at th
Utah Museum of Fine Arts

Books

*The work entitled ''Nella venuta in Roma'' (The Arrival in Rome), published in a quarto volume in 1764, contained various figures by La Vallée-Poussin. *Another publication, by Alexandre Lenoir, contains forty plates of

arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

s for interior decoration, of the type at which La Vallée-Poussin excelled. "The drawings of this painter of Rouen", writes Chennevières, "are greatly beautiful in character, full of feeling and render themselves truly worthy of the proud name which they bear."

Drawings

* ''Prayer : women and children kneeling or sitting in church'', Musée du Louvre * ''Monks distributing soup to the poor'', Musée du Louvre

Bibliography

* Ludovic de La Vallée Poussin, ''Étienne de La Vallée Poussin, peintre d'histoire et décorateur (1735-1802)'', Rouen, Cagniard, 1927

References

External links

Étienne de La Vallée-Poussin
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Vallee-Poussin, Etienne De 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters 1735 births 1802 deaths French history painters 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French male artists

Life

Collections

Works

Paintings

Books

Drawings

See also

Bibliography

References

External links