Charles Bargue (c. 1826/1827 – April 6, 1883) was a French painter and lithographer noted for devising an influential drawing course.
Life and career
He is mostly remembered for his ''Cours de dessin'', one of the most influential classical drawing courses conceived in collaboration with
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...
. The course, published between 1866 and 1871 by
Goupil & Cie
Goupil & Cie is an international auction house and merchant of contemporary art and collectibles. Jean-Baptiste Adophe Goupil founded Goupil & Cie in 1850. Goupil & Cie became a leading art dealership in 19th-century France, with its headquart ...
, comprised 197
lithographs printed as individual sheets, was to guide students from plaster casts to the study of great master drawings and finally to drawing from the living model. The Charles Bargue Drawing Course is used by many academies and ateliers which focus on
Classical Realism
Classical Realism is an artistic movement in the late-20th and early 21st century in which drawing and painting place a high value upon skill and beauty, combining elements of 19th-century neoclassicism and realism.
Origins
The term "Clas ...
. Among the artists whose work is based on the study of Bargue's plate work are Pablo Picasso and
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
, who copied the complete set in 1880/1881, and (at least a part of it) again in 1890.
Bargue was a student of Jean-Léon Gérôme. Bargue worked closely with Gérôme and was influenced by his style, which included Orientalist scenes and historical genre. Bargue's last painting was completed by Gérôme and is now conserved in the Malden Public Library,
Malden, Massachusetts, USA. He travelled extensively through North Africa, and the Balkans, during which time he executed many portraits of local people with meticulous detail.
Charles Bargue Drawing Course
This extraordinary drawing course has been resurrected in a lithography studio. The plates are available again from the original drawing course as they were proposed to academies in 1875. This set of exceptional lithographs is adopted by international academies of classical art, it will remain the definitive reference for the highest level of teaching.
Work
Publication
* Charles Bargue with the collaboration of Jean-Léon Gérôme, ''Charles Bargue Drawing Course,'' 1866
Paintings
File:Charles Bargue - The Sentinel - 1872.jpg, ''The Sentinel,'' 1872
File:A Bashi-Bazouk MET DT240201.jpg, ''A Bashi-Bazouk,'' 1875
File:Head of Young man. Study (Charles Bargue) - Nationalmuseum - 18601.tif, ''Head of Young man,'' (Study) ca. 1876
File:La Sentinelle albanaise 1860.jpg, ''The Albanian Sentinel,'' 1876
File:Charles Bargue – La sentinelle albanaise en Caire, 1877.jpg, ''The Albanian Sentinel in Cairo, 1877
See also
*
List of Orientalist artists
This is an incomplete list of artists who have produced works on Orientalist subjects, drawn from the Islamic world or other parts of Asia. Many artists listed on this page worked in many genres, and Orientalist subjects may not have formed a m ...
*
Orientalism
References
* Ackerman, Gerald M., (ed.) &
Parrish, Graydon: ''Charles Bargue avec le concours de Jean-Léon Gérôme: Cours de dessin'', French edition, 2003.
External links
Artencyclopedia.com page on Bargue* ''The art of drawing'':
Dahesh Museum of Art
The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only museum in the United States devoted to the collection and exhibition of European academic art of the 19th and 20th century. The collection, located in Manhattan, New York City, originated with Lebanese writer ...
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: exhibition*
* Goupil Museu
* Charles Bargue Drawing Cours
* Reproduction of plates from the Charles Bargue Drawing Course https://fineartlithography.com/en/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bargue, Charles
1820s births
1883 deaths
19th-century French painters
Art educators
Academic art
French lithographers
French male painters
Orientalism
Orientalist painters
19th-century male artists