Louis Candide Boulanger (1806 – 1867) was a French Romantic painter, pastellist, lithographer and a poet, known for his religious and allegorical subjects, portraits, genre scenes.

Life

Boulanger was born in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

where his father, François-Louis Boulanger, Lieutenant colonel of the Napoleon Army met his mother, Marie-Magdeleine-Gertrude Archibbuggi. In 1821 he joined the École des Beaux-Arts where he received classical training in the style of

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

from Guillaume Guillon Lethière and befriended

Achille Devéria Achille Jacques-Jean-Marie Devéria (6 February 180023 December 1857) was a French painter and lithographer known for his portraits of famous writers and artists. His younger brother was the Romantic painter Eugène Devéria, and two of his six ...

. He decided to become a painter "under the influence of the chiefs of the romantic school". In 1824 he was amongst the finalists of the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

and met his life-long friend writer

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

. In 1827 Boulanger and his family moved to a rented flat at 11 Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs. In 1840 he was awarded the Legion of Honor. In 1956 he married 27-year-old Adélaïde Catherine Amélie Lemonnier-Delafosse (1829-after 1900) and the couple had two sons. In 1860 he was appointed director of the École Impériale des Beaux-Arts de

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, now the École nationale supérieure d'art de Dijon. He died here in 1867 and is buried in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. On his death, Victor Hugo wrote to Madame Boulanger: “''I owe Louis Boulanger my best memories. His youth and mine were intertwined. Even as a teenager myself I noticed how talented he was.''"

Career

Among his notable friends were Victor Hugo, history painter

Eugène Devéria Eugène François Marie Joseph Devéria (22 April 1805, in Paris – 3 February 1865, in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pau) was a French Romanticism, Romantic history painter, portraitist and muralist. Biography He was one of five children born ...

, writer

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

, poet

Aloysius Bertrand Louis Jacques Napoléon Bertrand, better known by his pen name Aloysius Bertrand (20 April 1807 — 29 April 1841), was a French Romantic poet, playwright and journalist. He is famous for having introduced prose poetry in French literature,Stuar ...

, literary critic

Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

, novelist

Alexandre Dumas fils Alexandre Dumas (; 27 July 1824 – 27 November 1895) was a French author and playwright, best known for the romantic novel ''La Dame aux Camélias'' (''The Lady of the Camellias''), published in 1848, which was adapted into Giuseppe Verdi's ...

, architect Charles Robelin, writer

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

, sculptor

David d'Angers Pierre-Jean David (12 March 1788 – 4 January 1856) was a French sculptor, medalist and active freemason.Initiated in ""Le Père de famille"" Lodge in Angers He adopted the name David d'Angers, following his entry into the studio of the painter ...

, painter

Nicolas Toussaint Charlet , - align = "right" , , - align = "right" , Nicolas Toussaint Charlet (20 December 1792 – 30 October 1845) was a French painter and printmaker, more especially of military subjects. Life Charlet was born in Paris. He was the son o ...

, and writer

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

. In 1827 he and Devéria illustrated "Souvenirs du Théâtre Anglais à Paris" by

Charles-François-Jean-Baptiste Moreau de Commagny Charles-François-Jean-Baptiste Moreau de Commagny (Paris, 1783 – Paris, 1 July 1832) was a French playwright, librettist, poet and chansonnier. His plays, sometimes signed with different names (C.-F.-J.-B. Moreau, C.-A. Moreau, A. Moreau, E ...

. This year he obtained the second-class medal from the École des Beaux-Arts, followed by the first-class medal in 1836 and the cross in 1840. In 1829 he went to Germany and in 1831 England, with Sainte-Beuve and Robelin, to visit museums and churches. He kept journals of his travels. He illustrated several Romantic works of

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

, "

Les Orientales ''Les Orientales'' is a collection of poems by Victor Hugo, inspired by the Greek War of Independence. They were first published in January 1829. Of the forty-one poems, thirty-six were written during 1828. They offer a series of highly coloured ...

" (1827) and seven editions of "

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story o ...

" (1836) by Victor Hugo, and "Souvenirs du théâtre anglais à Paris" by Moreau de Commagny. Both Hugo and Boulanger were passionate about knights, dragons and medieval mobsters. Boulanger created stage costumes for some of Victor Hugo's theater plays, such as " Hernani" in 1829, "

Ruy Blas ''Ruy Blas'' is a tragic drama by Victor Hugo. It was the first play presented at the Théâtre de la Renaissance and opened on November 8, 1838. Though considered by many to be Hugo’s best drama, the play was initially met with only average ...

" in 1838, and "

Les Burgraves ''Les Burgraves'' is a historical play by Victor Hugo, first performed by the Comédie-Française on 7 March 1843. It takes place along the Rhine and features the return of Emperor Barbarossa. The play failed commercially and was the last of Hugo ...

", in 1843. From 1835 his style shifted from romanticism and focused on more detailed design, turning to classical literature for inspiration. He produced most of his portraits during this time. In 1846 he travelled to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

with Dumas, Giraud and Maquet. After visiting Toledo, Aranjuez, Jaen and Granada, they arrived to Madrid to visit the

Prado Museum The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

, where Boulanger was particularly struck by Goya, Velázquez,

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

and

Salvator Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 –1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the early 19th ...

. After this trip his style shifted again to explore more romantic techniques. In 1850 Boulanger painted the chapel of the Souls of Purgatory at

Saint-Roch Saint-Roch may refer to: In Canada: *Saint-Roch, Quebec City, a neighbourhood of Quebec City *Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec, a municipality *Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac, Quebec, a municipality *Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu, Quebec, a municipality *Saint-Ro ...

and a “Torment of St-Laurent” in the transept chapel of Saint-Laurent church in Paris. He also provided mural paintings for the frieze of the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

, the Senate chamber at the

Luxembourg Palace The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...

, and the Palace de Saint-Cloud.

Legacy

Louis Boulanger took an active role in the

Romantic Movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and painted the portraits of several personalities such as writer

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

, Victor Hugo,

Adèle Foucher Adèle Foucher (27 September 1803 – 27 August 1868) was the wife of French writer Victor Hugo, with whom she was acquainted from childhood. Her affair with the critic Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve became the raw material for Sainte-Beuve's ...

, writer

Petrus Borel Joseph-Pierre Borel d'Hauterive, known as Petrus Borel (26 June 1809 – 14 July 1859), was a French writer of the Romantic movement. Born at Lyon, the twelfth of fourteen children of an ironmonger, he studied architecture in Paris but abandoned ...

and many others. His paintings show the influence of French painter

Antoine-Jean Gros Antoine-Jean Gros (; 16 March 177125 June 1835) was a French painter of historical subjects. He was given title of Baron Gros in 1824. Gros studied under Jacques-Louis David in Paris and began an independent artistic career during the French R ...

, French painter and writer

Eugène Fromentin Eugène Fromentin (24 October 182027 August 1876) was a French painter and writer, now better remembered for his writings. Life He was born in La Rochelle. After leaving school he studied for some years under Louis Cabat, the landscape painter. ...

, English painter

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

, and later in life by Spanish painter

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

. Although his creations may be criticised for their ‘literary’ inspiration (in particular “La Ronde du Sabbat”, and “Petrarch’s Triumph”), his pastel sky studies prefigure

Paul Huet Paul Huet (3 October 1803 – 8 January 1869) was a French painter and printmaking, printmaker born in Paris. He studied under Antoine-Jean Gros, Gros and Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, Guerin. He met the English painter Richard Parkes Bonington in the ...

and

Eugène Boudin Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 18248 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, summa ...

. His works can be found in French collections, including 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 ...

Maison de Victor Hugo Maison de Victor Hugo () is a writer's house museum located where Victor Hugo lived for 16 years between 1832 and 1848.Information sheet from the Maire de Paris entitled 'Maisons de Victor Hugo'. It is one of the 14 City of Paris' Museums that hav ...

, and

Musée des beaux-arts de Tours The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours (English: Museum of Fine Arts of Tours) is located in the bishop's former palace, near the Tours Cathedral, cathedral St. Gatien, where it has been since 1910. It displays rich and varied collections, including t ...

. His son Louis René Boulanger (1860-1917) also became a painter.

Notable works

* "Supplice de Mazeppa", 1827, his first hit 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 ...

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen is an art museum in Rouen, in Normandy in north-western France. It was established by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1801, and is housed in a building designed by and built between 1877 and 1888. Its collections include ...

* "The Ronde du Sabbat", 1828 * "La Feu du Ciel", c. 1828, Maison de Victor Hugo, Paris, lithographed in 1831 * "Les Fantômes", 1829 * "King Leaving for the Town Hall", 1831 * "La mort de Bailly", 1831, rejected by the Paris Salon. * "Assassination of the

Duke of Orléans Duke of Orléans (french: Duc d'Orléans) was a French royal title usually granted by the King of France to one of his close relatives (usually a younger brother or son), or otherwise inherited through the male line. First created in 1344 by King ...

", 1833,

Musée des beaux-arts de Troyes The Musée des beaux-arts de Troyes (officially known as the musée Saint-Loup) is one of the two main art and archaeology museums in Troyes, France – the other is the Musée d'art moderne de Troyes. From 1831, it has been housed in the former ...

* "

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

’s Triumph", 1836 * "Portrait of Honoré de Balzac", c. 1837 * "Trois amours poétiques: Béatrix, Laure, Orsolina", c. 1840,

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 ...

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

* "Notre-Dame de Pitié", 1844 * "

Dante's inferno ''Inferno'' (; Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and '' Paradiso''. The ''Inferno'' describes Dante's journey through Hell, guid ...

", 1850 * "St

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

and the Roman Fugitives", 1855 * "Adélaïde Boulanger, née Lemoinier-Delafosse (1829-after 1900), wife of the artist", 1858,

.Adélaïde Boulanger
/ref> * "

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

’s Georgics", 1864 * "Shoe-lace Seller", 1864 * "Vive la joie", 1866,

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon is a museum of fine arts opened in 1787 in Dijon, France. It is one of the main and oldest museums of France. It is located in the historic city centre of Dijon and housed in the former ducal palace which was ...

Gallery

File:Portrait de Victor Hugo, Louis Boulanger.jpg, ''Portrait of Victor Hugo (1802-1885)'', 1837,

Polish Library in Paris The Polish Library in Paris (french: Bibliothèque Polonaise de Paris, pl, Biblioteka Polska w Paryżu) is a Polish cultural centre of national importance and is closely associated both with the historic Great Emigration of the Polish élite to P ...

File:Adele Hugo by Louis Boulanger.jpg, ''Portrait of Adèle Foucher (1803-1868)'', 1839, Maison de Victor Hugo. File:Boulanger, Louis Candide - Léopoldine Hugo à l'âge de quatre ans - 217 - Maison de Victor Hugo.jpg, ''

Léopoldine Hugo Léopoldine Cécile Marie-Pierre Catherine Hugo (28 August 1824 – 4 September 1843) was the eldest daughter of Victor Hugo and Adèle Foucher. Early life Léopoldine was born in Paris, the second of five children and eldest daughter of Victo ...

aged four (1824-1843)'', 1827, Maison de Victor Hugo. File:Louis Boulanger-Six characters of Victor Hugo mg 1753.jpg, ''Six characters of Victor Hugo'' File:Balzac Boulanger2.jpg, ''Portrait of Honoré de Balzac (1899-1950)'', Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours. File:Louis Candide Boulanger - Décoration de la salle à manger de l'hôtel Mahler - P1209 - Musée Carnavalet.jpg, Dining room mural for the hôtel Mahler, 1846 - 1851,

Musée Carnavalet The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, the civil servant wh ...

. File:Louis Boulanger - Décoration de la salle à manger de l'hôtel Mahler - P1209 - musée Carnavalet - 3.jpg, Dining room mural for the Hôtel Mahler, (1846-1851), Musée Carnavalet. File:Boulanger - Les âmes dans le purgatoire.JPG, ''Souls in Purgatory'', 1850,

Saint-Roch, Paris The Church of Saint-Roch (french: Église Saint-Roch) is a 17th-18th-century French Baroque and classical style church in Paris, dedicated to Saint Roch. It is located at 284 rue Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement. The current church was ...

. File:Louis Boulanger - Scène de l'affront ("Lucrèce Borgia", acte I, scène V).jpg, ''Lucrezia Borgia'', act I, scene V, Maison de Victor Hugo. File:George Sand en Madeleine par Louis Boulanger.jpg, ''George Sand as

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

in the desert''

Notes

References

Sources

* Michael Bryan: "''Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, biographical and critical''", London:

George Bell & Sons George Bell & Sons was a book publishing house located in London, United Kingdom, from 1839 to 1986. History George Bell & Sons was founded by George Bell as an educational bookseller, with the intention of selling the output of London univ ...

, 4, York st, Covent Garden, 1886, p. 168. *

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rem ...

, "''Histoire du romantisme''", Georges Charpentier, Paris, 1874. * Aristide Marie (1862-1938), "''Le Peintre poète Louis Boulanger''", H. Floury, coll. "La Vie et l'art romantiques", Paris, 1925. *

Benezit Dictionary of Artists The ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists'' (in French, ''Bénézit: Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs'') is an extensive publication of bibliographical information on painters, sculptors, designers and engravers created ...

Éditions Gründ Librairie Gründ, also known as "Les éditions Gründ " is a French publishing company. It was started in 1880 by Ernest Gründ and Émile Maguet as a bookstore in Paris, specializing in works about art. It joined the French publishing group Edi ...

, 2006.

External links

Louvre

France Archives (in French)

Larousse (in French)

Musée des Agustins

British Museum

Met Museum

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulanger, Louis 1806 births 1867 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters French romantic painters People from Vercelli 19th-century French male artists