Achille Empéraire (1829–1898) was a French painter.

Biography

Early life

Achille Empéraire was born with

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...

and a

hunchback Kyphosis () is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis. It can ...

, on 16 September 1829 in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

.Achille EMPERAIRE – Les Maîtres Provençaux sont sur ARTISTES PROVENÇAUX
/ref> He took drawing lessons in Aix from 1844 to 1856.''La Peinture en Provence'', Alauzen, pages 243 to 245. From 1857 onwards, he would often go to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and started attending

Thomas Couture Thomas Couture (; 21 December 1815 – 30 March 1879) was a French history painter and teacher. He taught many notable contemporary figures of the art world, such as Édouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, John La Farge, Pierre Puvis de Chava ...

's school there. Adamant to make the grade, he would ask for help anywhere, undaunted by the prospect of living in the streets. He even wrote in his letters, "When occasionally I can spend 80 centimes on a meal, it feels like an orgy... The rest of the time, to skip a meal, I quell my hunger by eating bread crumbs with wine and sugar."

Career

On the eve of his first exhibition in Paris, he applied varnish on his canvas. The next day, the painting was in pieces. Traumatised, he would never use varnish again, which explains why a lot of his paintings have vanished. It is only thanks to

Joseph Ravaisou Joseph Ravaisou (11 November 1865 – 22 December 1925) was a French landscape painter. Ravaisou was born on 11 November 1865, in Bandol, Var. In 1878, he moved to Aix-en-Provence to work as a school teacher, and subsequently became a mus ...

's son that some paintings are still there to be seen. By serendipity, he was commissioned a painting for the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and earned 1.000 francs for it, a hefty sum at the time. This money enabled him to pay for some debts and for his trip back to Aix in October 1873. It was only in 1873 that he met Joachim Gasquet in Aix, who would turn out to be Emperaire's best friend up until his death. Although he went back to Paris in 1881 and again in 1882, when he was honoured with becoming a member of the ''Société libre des Artistes français'', he would hardly leave Aix from 1873 onwards, living at 2, place des Prêcheurs. While in Aix, he liked to go painting in

Le Tholonet Le Tholonet (; ''Lou Toulounet'' and ''Lo Tolonet'' in Provençal) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Tholonétiens''. Geography The commune is near Aix-en-Provence, and at the f ...

. He was known for being headstrong. Joachim Gasquet once mentioned his "unwavering bravery and unquestioning pride", someone who, on his deathbed, still had faith in "the beauty, the art and the genius of the world". Although he met

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

, who became a close friend of his, at the

Académie Suisse The Académie Suisse () was a very popular, informal art school founded by Martin François Suisse (1781–1859)From Filae.com, 23 juin 2021. Source: Registres journaliers d'inhumation des cimetières parisiens. Les documents d'origine sont consul ...

in 1861, he rejected his style. Indeed, for his nudes and landscapes, he preferred to use thick material. For John Rewald, Emperaire, "was able to loop out of Cézanne's influence, and his work denotes a surprising personality and a most peculiar strand". He had a passion for

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

and

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, 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 (art movement), R ...

. Cézanne once said, "Well, he didn't make it. Still, he was a lot more of a painter than all those dripping with medals and honours".F. Baille, ''Les Petits Maîtres d'Aix à la Belle Époque'', pages 82 to 86.

Personal life

He resided in an apartment at 16, rue Émeric-David in Aix. He died on 8 January 1898.Alauzen, ''La Peinture en Provence''

Paintings

*''Nu couché'' *''Baigneuse de Saul'' (au revers un autoportrait) *''Portrait de femme en buste'' (au revers un nu couché) *''Paysage de la campagne d'Aix'' *''Nature morte ou pichet'' (au revers deux amazones traversant un bois) *''Nature morte aux pêches ainsi que plusieurs dessins''

References

External links

''Portrait of Achille Emperaire'', by Paul Cézanne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emperaire, Achille 1829 births 1898 deaths Artists from Aix-en-Provence Painters from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 19th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French male artists it:Ritratto di Achille Emperaire