CORNU Sebastien-Melchior Jean-Claude Bonnefond

Claude Bonnefond, or Jean-Claude Bonnefond (27 March 1796,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

- 27 June 1860, Lyon) was a French painter and lithographer; noted for his portrayals of peasant life. His work was heavily influenced by a visit to Italy.

Biography

His father was a baker who died shortly after Jean-Claude was born. His mother remarried in 1797, to another baker who was an associate of her first husband. An elder brother died in military service. In 1808, at the age of twelve, he entered the

École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon The École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Lyon is a school of art and design in Lyon, located in Les Subsistances, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. It is part of the École des Beaux-Arts tradition ...

, where he studied with

Pierre Revoil Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

and Alexis Grognard (1752-1840). In 1816, he was exempted from military service for being his family's only surviving son. The following year, he had his first exhibit at the Salon, where one of his paintings was purchased by

Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry (24 January 1778 – 14 February 1820) was the third child and younger son of Charles X, King of France, (whom he predeceased) by his wife Maria Theresa of Savoy. In June 1832, two years after the overthro ...

. At the age of 28, he and

Victor Orsel (André Jacques) Victor Orsel (25 May 1795, Oullins, Rhône - 30 November 1850, Paris) was a French painter. A student of Pierre Révoil in Lyon then of Pierre-Narcisse Guérin in Paris, he then spent 7 years at the villa Médicis in Rome (1822 ...

went to Paris to work in the studios of Pierre-Narcisse Guérin. Shortly after, Guérin was named Director of the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, ...

and Bonnefond accompanied him to Rome. While in Italy, he also visited

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

and

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

and made the acquaintance of several German painters of the

Nazarene movement The epithet Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th-century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of c ...

, including Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld,

Joseph Anton Koch Joseph Anton Koch (27 July 1768 – 12 January 1839) was an Austrian painter of Neoclassicism and later the German Romantic movement; he is perhaps the most significant neoclassical landscape painter. Biography The Tyrolese painter was born i ...

and

Johann Friedrich Overbeck Johann Friedrich Overbeck (3 July 1789 – 12 November 1869) was a German painter. As a member of the Nazarene movement, he also made four etchings. Early life and education Born in Lübeck, his ancestors for three generations had been Protes ...

. In 1830, Victor Prunelle, the Mayor of Lyon, offered him the directorship of the École des Beaux-arts. He accepted, replacing Revoil, and held that position for thirty years. He created a school of engraving, operated by Victor Vibert (1799-1860), and the École produced seventeen laureates 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 ...

between 1831 and 1860. In 1834, he was named a Knight in the Legion of Honor.Dossier
@ the Base Léonore. His own work continued to be in the Italian style until 1840, when he turned to painting portraits of the local bourgeoisie. He died of what was described as " blood congestion" after a long period of illness.

Selected paintings

File:The love letter (1830) - Jean-Claude Bonnefond.jpg, The Messenger File:Bonnefond-FTeller.jpg, The Fortune Teller Bonnefond-Blacksmith.jpg, A farrier near a forge File:Bonnefond Voeu.jpg, The Vow to the Madonna

Notes

References

* Nelly Colin, "Jean-Claude Bonnefond et l'Italie", in ''Lyon et l'Italie : six études d'Histoire de l'art'', edited by Daniel Ternois, Paris, CNRS, 1984 Attribution: *

External links

ArtNet: More works by Bonnefond.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnefond, Jean Claude 19th-century French painters French male painters 1796 births 1860 deaths Artists from Lyon Members of the Académie des beaux-arts French genre painters 19th-century French male artists