Adolphe Appian (born as Jacques Barthelemy Adolphe Appian; 28 August 1819 – 29 April 1898) was a French landscape painter and

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

Early life

Appian was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and changed his name to Adolphe Appian at age fifteen. At the age of fifteen Appian attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Lyon which was an art school which specialized in training to decorate fabrics by a local silk industry. He studied under Jean-Michel Grobon and Augustin Alexandre Thierrat. Later he opened a studio in Lyon and worked as a graphic designer. He travelled to Paris to finish his studies and after he had exhibited a painting and a charcoal drawing in the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

in 1853 he became friends with

Camille Corot Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; July 16, 1796 – February 22, 1875), or simply Camille Corot, is a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. He is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast o ...

and

Charles-François Daubigny Charles-François Daubigny ( , , ; 15 February 181719 February 1878) was a French painter, one of the members of the Barbizon school, and is considered an important precursor of impressionism. He was also a prolific printmaker, mostly in etchin ...

who greatly influenced his style. Appian was elected a Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

Works

In 1866, Appian's two works that he exhibited in Paris were bought by

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and by princess Mathilde. He painted at the beginning of his career atmospheric pictures in a

monochromatic A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or color scheme, palette is composed of one color (or lightness, values of one color). Images using only Tint, shade and tone, shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or Black and wh ...

palette of the riverside of the Rhone and the south of France. In 1870 he changed his style to use brilliant and striking color in his paintings but he still continued to make

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

drawings as well as small etchings of landscapes in the Barbizon style. As an etcher, he had a distinct influence on the American artist,

Stephen Parrish Stephen Parrish (1846 – 1938) was an American painter and etcher who became one of the 19th century's most celebrated printmakers during the "American Etching Revival." Privately trained by painter and animal etcher Peter Moran, Parrish was be ...

.Laurence S. Cutler et al, ''Maxfield Parrish and the American Imagists'', Chartwell Books Inc., 2007, p. 26 Appian died in Lyon on 29 April 1898.

Gallery

File:Le Soir aux Martigues (Appian).jpg, ''Le Soir aux Martiguese'', 1850 File:Adolphe Appian, A Gorge de Loup, 1863, NGA 55288.jpg, alt=Lone figure walking on a road next to some trees. A house in the background., ''A Gorge de Loup'', 1863,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

File:Adolphe Appian - Le haut du bois des Roches à Rossillon - 1870 2.JPG, ''Le Haut du bois des roches (Rossillon)'', 1870 File:Brooklyn Museum - The Source of the Albarine (Source de l'Albarine) - Adolphe Appian.jpg, ''The Source of the Albarine'',
ca. 1870 File:Adolphe Appian, Barque de Pecheurs, 1874, NGA 110673.jpg, alt=Two fishing boats and a small rowing boat. A coastline is seen in the far background. , ''Barque de Pecheurs'', 1874,

File:Adolphe Appian, At Venice, 1878, NGA 71022.jpg, alt=Boats on a Venetian canal, ''At Venice'', 1878,

File:Adolphe Appian, A Fisherman in a Wooded Pond at Evening, 1887, NGA 159219.jpg, ''A Fisherman in a Wooded Pond at Evening'', 1887,

File:Adolphe Appian Landschaft mit Obstbäumen.jpg, ''Landscape with Orchard'',
by 1898

References

External links

Works by Adolphe Appian
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Appian, Adolphe, Jean-Baptiste-Camille 1819 births 1898 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters French printmakers French etchers French Realist painters French landscape artists Officers of the Legion of Honour Artists from Lyon 19th-century French male artists