Jean-Frédéric Schall, also Frédéric-Jean, Challe or Chall (14 March 1752 – 24 March 1825) was a French painter who specialized in

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

scenes and portraits.

Biography

IHe was born in Strasbourg. In 1772, after receiving his initial training at the "École publique de dessin de Strasbourg", he went to Paris. There, he was able to enroll at the

École royale des élèves protégés École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Sav ...

under the sponsorship of Nicolas Guy Brenet, and entered the studios of

Francesco Casanova Francesco Giuseppe Casanova (1 June 1727, London – 8 July 1803, near Mödling) was an Italian painter who specialised in battle scenes. His older brother was Giacomo Casanova, the famous adventurer, and his younger brother was Giovanni Battis ...

; completing his studies in 1777. He had several patrons, including , Jean-Georges Wille and

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (15 February 1704 – 1778) was a French sculptor of the 18th century who worked in both the rococo and neoclassical style. He made monumental statuary for the Gardens of Versailles but was best known for his expressive p ...

. In addition to Casanova, he studied with Nicolas-René Jollain (1775) and Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié (1776 and 1779).Emmanuel Bénézit, ''Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays'', R. Roger et F. Chernoviz, 1919, Vol.3 In 1776, he produced his first major works, in the galant style of Fragonard and Debucourt. In 1778, they were produced as color engravings by . He rapidly became a favorite painter among the high society of his time. Many of his works are fêtes galantes featuring actors, dancers and powerful men with their mistresses, engaged in frivolous activities. He entered the service of

Christian IV, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken Christian IV, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld (6 September 1722 in Bischweiler – 5 November 1775 in Herschweiler-Pettersheim) was Duke of Zweibrücken from 1735 to 1775. Early life and family Christian IV was born in Bischweiler ...

, and created works for his "Secret Museum". Many were of a risqué or lascivious nature. Some were turned into engravings by Gabriel Marchand (c. 1755-18?). Among his later patrons from Strasbourg was the piano maker,

Sébastien Érard Sébastien Érard (born Sebastian Erhard, 5 April 1752 – 5 August 1831) was a French instrument maker of German origin who specialised in the production of pianos and harps, developing the capacities of both instruments and pioneering the mode ...

. Despite the variety of his works, and their focus, he described himself as a "history painter". His works have also been compared to those of

Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, as ...

. In 1787, he married Marie-Catherine Naudé. During the

Directory Directory may refer to: * Directory (computing), or folder, a file system structure in which to store computer files * Directory (OpenVMS command) * Directory service, a software application for organizing information about a computer network's u ...

, due to his association with the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for ...

he, his wife and children lived in the staircase of a chapel in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. Later they lived in the phalanstery at the ruins of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Once the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

had taken a more settled form, he emerged to continue painting, but had to devote himself to more austere, patriotic themes. These included children kissing the feet of

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and the heroic actions of

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

.Société d’études et de publications économiques, ''Connaissance des arts'', 1954, Vol.23-34. The Revolution did not, however, change people's tastes, so he returned to his previous themes as soon as possible. This time, he used mythology as a pretext for painting naked women in bucolic scenes.''Petits Théâtres de l’intime : La Peinture de genre française entre Révolution et Restauration''
Online
Toulouse,

Musée des Augustins The Musée des Augustins de Toulouse is a fine arts museum in Toulouse, France which conserves a collection of sculpture and paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The paintings are from throughout France, the sculptures represe ...

. Schall had major showings at the Salons of 1793, 1798 and 1806. He died in Paris on 24 March 1825. As one might suppose, many of his works were unsigned and, during the 19th century, were variously attributed to Fragonard,

Antoine-François Callet Antoine-François Callet (1741–1823), generally known as Antoine Callet, was a French painter of portraits and allegorical works, who acted as official portraitist to Louis XVI. He won the grand prix de Rome in 1764 with ''Cléobis et Biton ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Huet Jean-Baptiste Marie Huet (Paris, 15 October 1745 – Paris, 27 January 1811) was a French painter, engraver and designer associated with pastoral and genre scenes of animals in the Rococo manner, influenced by François Boucher. Born into ...

. Some of his early works were signed "Challe", possibly to take advantage of the popularity of Charles-Michel-Ange Challe. Eventually, these problems were sorted out and it is now believed that most of his works have been properly attributed.

Selected paintings

File:Heroism of Wilhelm Tell mg 0097.jpg, The Heroism of

File:La Frayeur maternelle, première partie.jpg, The Mother's Fright File:Schall-Mischievous.png, The Mischievous Ones File:Morgentoilet Rijksmuseum SK-A-3260.jpeg, Morning Toilette File:Schall, Frederic - Zephyr Crowning Flora -.jpg,

Zephyrus In ancient Greek religion and myth, the Anemoi (Greek: , 'Winds') were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons an ...

Crowning

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

References

External links

Jean-Frédéric Schall
@ the Base Joconde
More works by Schall
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Schall, Jean-Frederic 1752 births 1825 deaths 18th-century French painters French genre painters Artists from Strasbourg French portrait painters Painters from Alsace 19th-century French painters

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links