Jacques François Joseph Swebach-Desfontaines, known as Fontaine (19 March 1769, Metz - 10 December 1823, Paris) was a French painter and designer. He is best known for his genre and battle scenes.

Biography

He first learned painting from his father François Louis Swebach-Desfontaines (1749-1793), a self-taught amateur artist and a Member of the Scientific Society of Metz who illustrated ''Histoire naturelle : ou, Exposition des morceaux, les mieux choisis pour servir à l'étude de la minéralogie et de la cristallographie''. Jacques François then studied with Joseph Duplessis in Paris. In the late 1780s, he frequented the woods near the Château de Fontainebleau, with

Lazare Bruandet Lazare Buandet, a French landscape painter, was born in Paris in 1755. He painted views of Paris, and sought to imitate Ruisdael. In the Louvre there is by him a 'View in the Forest of Fontainebleau The forest of Fontainebleau (french: Forêt ...

and Georges Michel, painting landscapes. During the Revolution, his paintings were of a patriotic nature; notably ''The Young Darruder'' and ''

Joseph Agricol Viala Joseph Agricol Viala (22 February 1778 – 6 July 1793) was a child hero in the French Revolutionary Army. He was killed at age 15, though he is most often portrayed as a younger child of 11–13. Life Viala was living in Avignon when, in 1793, a ...

'', both engraved by . In 1798, he exhibited six troop and battle scenes at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

.''Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins sculptures, architecture et gravure, Exposés au Muséum central des Arts'', Impr. des sciences et des arts, 1798
Online
/ref> He was a designer and painter for the

Manufacture de Sèvres Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

from 1802 to 1813, where he was praised for his speedy execution. His battle scenes with horses were especially popular. He also worked for

Dihl and Guérhard porcelain Dihl and Guérhard porcelain (various variant names) was made by the Duc d'Angoulême's porcelain factory, a hard-paste porcelain factory in Paris, active from February 25, 1781, until 1828. It was founded by Christophe Dihl (1752-1830) and Antoi ...

in 1806. That same year, he participated in creating the ; a table service commissioned by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

to reward his Secretary of State, Hugues Bernard Maret, for managing the wedding arrangements of Stéphanie de Beauharnais and Charles, the future Grand Duke of Baden. It is currently on display at the Louvre Museum.Anne Dion-Tenenbaum, "Tout savoir du service encyclopédique", in ''Grande Galerie, Le Journal du Louvre'', Number 40, 2017 From 1815 to 1817, he worked in St. Petersburg, directing the Imperial Porcelain Factory, later known as the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. He was married to Antoinette-Prudence Pujolle and they had two sons, one of whom, Bernard-Édouard Swebach, was also a painter.

Selected works

Jacques François Joseph Swebach-Desfontaines - Army on the March - 1916.170.1 - Reading Public Museum.jpg, Army on the March Jacques-François Swebach-Desfontaines, Un marché aux chevaux, 1793 - Musée de la Révolution française.jpg, A Horse Market Assiette du service encyclopédique de la manufacture de Sèvres.jpg, Plate from the Service Encyclopédique Jacques François Joseph Swebach-Desfontaines - Pillage d'une église pendant la révolution - P317 - Musée Carnavalet.jpg, Decommissioning a Church File:Darruder.jpeg, The drummer Darruder, avenging his father who was shot by the Vendéens

References

External links

More works by Swebach-Desfontaines
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Swebach-Desfontaines, Jacques 18th-century French painters 19th-century French painters French draughtsmen Artists from Metz 1769 births 1823 deaths

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links