Michel-Barthélémy Ollivier (24 August 1712,

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

- 15 June 1784,

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 ...

) was a French painter and engraver.Georges Reynaud, "Les Ollivier, peintres et sculpteurs marseillais XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles", in: ''Provence historique'', Vol.57, #229, 200
Online
He specialized in historical and

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.

Life and work

He came from a family of painters, including his father, Louis (1686-?), grandfather Antoine (1645-1716) and cousin Cosme (1651-?). He attended the Académie de Saint-Luc and the

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (; en, "Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abol ...

. He also studied with

Charles-André van Loo Carle or Charles-André van Loo (; 15 February 1705 – 15 July 1765) was a French painter, son of the painter Louis-Abraham van Loo, a younger brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo and grandson of Jacob van Loo. He was the most famous member of a su ...

. When Van Loo's nephew, Louis-Michel van Loo, was appointed a

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

to King

Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign of 45 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish mon ...

, Ollivier accompanied him to Madrid. He had returned to Paris by 1750, when he married Faronne-Marie-Madeleine Lefebvre, but returned to Spain with her and remained there until 1763.Brief biography
from Neil Jeffares, ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800'' He was certified as a genre painter at the Académie de Saint-Luc in 1764 and, two years later, became an "agré" (a type of candidate member) at the Académie royale. In 1772, he visited England, where he exhibited at the newly established

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in London. Many of his works were created for

Louis François, Prince of Conti Louis François de Bourbon, or Louis François I, Prince of Conti (13 August 1717 – 2 August 1776), was a French nobleman who became the Prince of Conti from 1727 to his death, succeeding his father, Louis Armand II, Prince of Conti, Louis Arman ...

, for whom he was the "peintre ordinaire" (painter-in-waiting). His works may be seen at the

Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux is the fine arts museum of the city of Bordeaux, France. The museum is housed in a dependency of the Palais Rohan in central Bordeaux. Its collections include paintings, sculptures and drawings from the 15t ...

, 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 ...

and the Musée des beaux-arts de Valenciennes, among others. The locations of many of his works are currently unknown.

References

External links

More works by Ollivier
@ ArtNet
Ollivier
@ the Base Joconde {{DEFAULTSORT:Ollivier, Michel-Barthelemy 1712 births 1784 deaths 18th-century French painters French genre painters Artists from Marseille