Alfred Edward Chalon (15 February 1780 – 3 October 1860) was a Swiss-born British portraitist. He lived in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he was noticed by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

Biography

Family vault of John James Chalon in Highgate Cemetery

Alfred Chalon was born in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

from a father who soon was hired as professor at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, in England. With his brother

John James Chalon John James Chalon (27 March 1778 – 14 November 1854) was a Swiss painter active in England. He treated a wide range of subjects — landscapes, marine scenes, animal life, and figure-pieces. Life He was born at Geneva, of an old French family ...

(1778–1854), Alfred became an artist. Entered at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1797, he joined the Associated Artists in Water-Colours, a group of aquarellists. In the Academy, he was elected an associate (ARA) in 1812, then academician (RA) in 1816. Known for his portraits of the good society of London, he was chosen by Queen Victoria to paint a gift to her mother:Negus, Ron (September 2007). "The Queen in close-up", ''

Stamp Magazine Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...

'' 73-9, page 47. Victoria in her State robes going to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

for her first official act, the

prorogation Prorogation in the Westminster system of government is the action of proroguing, or interrupting, a parliament, or the discontinuance of meetings for a given period of time, without a dissolution of parliament. The term is also used for the peri ...

of the Parliament, on 17 July 1837. After this task, Chalon was entitled Portrait Painter in Water Colour to Her Majesty and gained some celebrity. His 1837 portrait was engraved by

Samuel Cousins Samuel Cousins (9 May 1801 in Exeter – 7 May 1887 in London) was a British mezzotinter. Life Cousins was born at Exeter. In 1855 he was elected a full member of the Royal Academy, to which he later gave in trust £15,000 to provide annui ...

and distributed to the public the day of Victoria's coronation, the 28 June 1838.The Cousins Cornucopia
/ref> Then, starting in 1851, the "

Chalon head Chalon may refer to: Culture *Chalon people, a Native American tribe of California * Chalon language, an Ohlone language spoken by the Chalon people Places * Chalon, Isère, formerly Châlons, in France's Isère ''département'' * Le Chalon, in t ...

" appeared on some British colonies

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s. Bachelors, the Chalon brothers lived together. In 1860, Alfred died at

Campden Hill Campden Hill is a hill in Kensington, West London, bounded by Holland Park Avenue on the north, Kensington High Street on the south, Kensington Palace Gardens on the east and Abbotsbury Road on the west. The name derives from the former ''Campde ...

, in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London and was buried with his brother in

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

References

External links

*
Biography

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

, retrieved 29 December 2007.
A E Chalon online
(ArtCyclopedia)
Portraits by Alfred Chalon
National Portrait Gallery of London. * Portrait of a beautiful Arvanit girl by Alfred Chalon (in the Albanian Wikipedia)
Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
* , a painting of a scene from the opera

La muette de Portici ''La muette de Portici'' (''The Mute Girl of Portici'', or ''The Dumb Girl of Portici''), also called ''Masaniello'' () in some versions, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scribe. ...

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...

, engraved by J. C. Edwards for The Keepsake annual, 1836, with a poetical illustration (Fenella’s Escape) by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

. * , engraved by E. J. Portbury for The Cabinet of Modern Art, 1837, with a poetical illustration by

* Portraits in Heath's book of Beauty, 1839, with illustrative verse by

: ** , engraved by

William Henry Mote William Henry Mote (1803–1871) was a British stipple and line engraver, primarily known for his portraits. He produced etchings for reference books, as well as original etchings. Mote became a member of the Royal Academy in his twenties and his ...

** , engraved by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalon, Alfred Edward 19th-century British painters British male painters British watercolourists Royal Academicians British portrait painters 1780 births 1860 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery 19th-century British male artists

Biography

References

Further reading

External links