Théodule Ribot
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Théodule-Augustin Ribot (August 8, 1823September 11, 1891) was a French realist painter and printmaker. He was born in Saint-Nicolas-d'Attez, and studied at the École des Arts et Métiers de Châlons before moving to Paris in 1845. There he found work decorating gilded frames for a mirror manufacturer. Although he received a measure of artistic training while working as an assistant to Auguste-Barthélémy Glaize, Ribot was mostly self-taught as a painter. After a trip to
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around 1848, he returned in 1851 to Paris, where he continued to make his living as an artisan. In the late 1850s, working at night by lamplight, he began to paint seriously, depicting everyday subjects in a realistic style. Ribot worked in at least three mediums,
oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and va ...
,
pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...
or
crayon A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax a ...
draughtsmanship and
etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
. Some drawings were complete works, others fragmentary but powerful preparations for painted canvases. The etchings, of which there are only about a couple of dozen, are of the middle period of his practice; they show a diversity of method as well as of theme. He made his Salon debut in 1861 with four paintings of kitchen subjects.Weisberg, Oxford Art Online Collectors purchased the works, and his paintings in the Salons of 1864 and 1865 were awarded medals. Ribot painted domestic
genre works Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...
, still-lifes,
portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...
s, as well as religious scenes, such as his Salon success ''St. Sebastian, Martyr'' (1865). The earlier work was drier and austere but still with an intensity of conception and presentation; later works were freer and broader. His preference was for painting directly from nature, emphasizing the contrasts of light and dark. His use of
chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...
to suggest psychological states grew from his admiration for Spanish and Dutch baroque masters such as Ribera and Rembrandt, an enthusiasm shared by his contemporaries
Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and t ...
and Bonvin. Members of Ribot's family are the likely models for many of his figure compositions, in which the subjects engage in humble activities, such as preparing meals or gathering in groups to read to each other. The light draws attention to faces and hands, which emerge sharply from dimly lit surroundings. Although the realism of Ribot's work aligns him with the most progressive artists of the generation preceding the
Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
, he was no revolutionary, and his work met with a generally favorable response from the public and from critics. In 1878 Ribot received the ''
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
''. At about this time, in ill health, he stopped painting and moved to Colombes, where he died in 1891. His son, Germain Théodore Ribot (1845–1893), was a painter of still-lifes and genre in a style similar to that of his father.''Still Life with Dead Birds and a Basket of Oysters''. The Cleveland Museum of Art
Retrieved July 4, 2019.
'Still Life with Apples and a Pomegranate' by Théodule-Augustin Ribot.JPG, ''Still Life with Apples and a Pomegranate, circa 1865 Ribot Theodule A Girl Arranging A Vase Of Flowers-1.jpg, ''A Girl Arranging a Vase of Flowers'' Ribot Theodule The Cook And The Cat-1.jpg, ''The Cook and the Cat'' (Toulouse) Le Bon Samaritain (1870) Théodule Ribot - Musée des beaux-arts de Pau Joconde00980001224.jpg, ''The Good Samaritan'', 1870


Notes


References

*Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Charles Sterling, and Margaretta M. Salinger (1967). ''French Paintings: a Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. III : XIX-XX Centuries III''. New York, NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art. *Rosenblum, Robert (1989). ''Paintings in the Musée d'Orsay''. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang. *Turner, J. (2000). ''From Monet to Cézanne: late 19th-century French artists''. Grove Art. New York: St Martin's Press. *Weisberg, Gabriel P., "Théodule Ribot", Oxford Art Online


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribot, Theodule 19th-century French painters French male painters 1823 births 1891 deaths French Realist painters 19th-century French male artists