Marcel de Chollet or Marcel Chollet (26 October 1855,

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

– 30 July 1924, Geneva) was a French speaking Swiss painter of the Belle Époque. He is mainly known for his ceiling places in public buildings, hotels and casinos in Switzerland and Paris, which can be assigned to both naturalism and

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

Life

The son of the architect Charles Joseph de Chollet, little is known of de Chollet's youth. He left Switzerland in 1880 to study at the academy in Paris. He worked in the studios of Borchgrave and Bidan,Benezit Dictionary of Artist
/ref> where he graduated in decorative painting. He then joined Pierre-Victor Galland's decorative painting course at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Scienc ...

and settled in Paris for good at a studio at 17 rue Victor-Massé in

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

. He successfully exhibited still lifes and drawings in Swiss salons between 1883 and 1898 – these works are now in the Musée d’art et d’histoire (Fribourg),

Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva) The Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (''Museum of Art and History'') is the largest art museum in Geneva, Switzerland. The building The museum is located in Les Tranchées, in the city centre, on the site of the former fortification ring. It ...

and the

Musée Rath The Musée Rath is an art museum in Geneva, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. Its building is the oldest purpose-built art museum in Switzerland, and the original home of Geneva's Musée d'Art et d'Histoire. It is located on Place Neu ...

among others.. In Paris his work was exhibited at the

Salon des artistes français The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

. In 1903 Marcel de Chollet was honoured with a ''mention'' at the Paris Salon. He moved away from naturalism in his still lifes, influenced by the portraits of women then being produced in Paris by

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

and

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

. His first interior commission was in 1885 for the audience hall of the

Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (german: Bundesgericht, french: Tribunal fédéral, it, Tribunale federale, rm, ) is the supreme court of the Swiss Confederation and at the head of the Swiss judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court ...

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

. In 1895 he painted the main hall at the renowned

Hôtel des Alpes-Grand Hôtel The Hôtel des Alpes-Grand Hôtel or Résidence des Alpes is an assemblage of buildings which formed a former palace in the city of Montreux in Switzerland History In 1840 the town bought a parcel of land on which to build a hostel entitled 'Ch ...

Territet Territet (Montreux) is a locality which is part of the Montreux commune, in the Vaud canton, Switzerland. Geography Territet is located between the city center of Montreux and the village of Veytaux, within the municipality of Montreux, on t ...

. Further orders followed, though his real breakthrough work was an allegorical scheme for the presidential offices in the

Federal Palace of Switzerland The Federal Palace is a building in Bern housing the Swiss Federal Assembly (legislature) and the Federal Council (executive). It is the seat of the government of Switzerland and parliament of the country. The building is a listed symmetric ...

in Bern. In 1905 he painted the reading room at the

Palais de Rumine The Palais de Rumine is a late 19th-century building in Florentine Renaissance style in Lausanne, Switzerland. History On his death, Gabriel de Rumine, son of Russian nobility, left the city of Lausanne 1.5 million Swiss Francs to erect ...

in Lausanne and a year later that in the

Montreux Palace Fairmont Le Montreux Palace is a luxury hotel located on the shores of Lake Geneva at Avenue Claude Nobs 2, in the city of Montreux in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and managed by Michael Smithuis. Built in 1906, the hotel is a member of th ...

hotel in

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

. In 1908 he produced the scheme in the 'Salle del Castillo' at ''Casino du Rivage'' in

Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...

. However, his work on the ' Grands Magasins du Louvre' was destroyed in 1974.

Gallery

Hôtel des Alpes-Grand Hôtel Salle des Fetes par Marcel de Chollet.jpg, Main hall of the

, 1895 Montreux, hall originel du Montreux par Marcel de Chollet.jpg,

, 1906 Vevey, Salle del Castillo de l’Ancien par Marcel de Chollet.jpg, ''Salle del Castillo'' in the ''Casino du Rivage'' in

, 1908

Bibliography

* Tamara Robbiani: ''Marcel Chollet (1855–1924). Un artiste méconnu.'' In: ''monuments vaudois'', Nr. 2, 2011, S. 19–25.Monuments Vaudois

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chollet, Marcel de 1855 births 1924 deaths 19th-century French painters 19th-century Swiss painters Painters from Paris 20th-century French painters Belle Époque