Jean Frédéric Bazille (; December 6, 1841 – November 28, 1870) was a French Impressionist painter. Many of Bazille's major works are examples of figure painting in which he placed the subject figure within a landscape painted '' en plein air''.

Life and work

Frédéric Bazille was born in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, Hérault, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, into a wealthy wine merchant

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

family. Bazille grew up in the Le Domaine de Méric, a wine-producing estate in Castelnau-le-Lez, near Montpellier, owned by his family. He became interested in painting after seeing some works of Eugène Delacroix. His family agreed to let him study painting, but only if he also studied medicine. Bazille began studying medicine in 1859, and moved to Paris in 1862 to continue his studies. There he met Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley, was drawn to Impressionist painting, and began taking classes in Charles Gleyre's studio. After failing his medical exam in 1864, he began painting full-time. His close friends included Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Édouard Manet. Bazille was generous with his wealth and helped support his less fortunate associates by giving them space in his studio and materials to use. Bazille was just twenty-three years old when he painted several of his best-known works, including '' The Pink Dress'' (c. 1864,

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

, Paris). This painting combines a portrait-like depiction of Bazille's cousin, Thérèse des Hours, who is seen from behind—and the sunlit landscape at which she gazes. His best-known painting is '' Family Reunion'', painted 1867–1868 (Musée d'Orsay, Paris). Frédéric Bazille joined a Zouave regiment in August 1870, a month after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. On November 28th of that year he was with his unit at the Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande when his commanding officer was injured. That required him to take command and lead an assault on the German position. He was hit twice in the failed attack and died on the battlefield at the age of twenty-eight. His father travelled to the battlefield a few days later to take his body back for burial at Montpellier in the Protestant cemetery over a week later.

Personal life

Bazille never married, claiming it was because of “an early heartbreak with a woman.” He developed intimate friendships with men, such as Edmond Maître, but was also melancholic and claimed to “hav constant migraines while he was painting his nude men.” This and the homoeroticism of his paintings led to modern suggestions that Bazille may have been gay and conflicted about his sexuality.

Main works

* '' La robe rose'', (1864) – 147 x 110 cm,

, Paris * '' Studio on Rue Furstenberg'', (1865) – 80 x 65 cm, Musée Fabre,

* '' Aigues-Mortes'', (1867) – 46 x 55 cm, Musée Fabre, Montpellier * ''

Self-portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

'', (1865) – 109 x72 cm, Art Institute of Chicago * '' Family Reunion'', (1867) – 152 x 230 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris * '' Le Pécheur à l'épervier'', (1868) – 134 x 83 cm, Fondation Rau pour le tiers-monde,

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* '' View of the Village'', (1868) – 130 x 89 cm, Musée Fabre, Montpellier * '' Scène d'été'', (1869) – 158 x 158 cm,

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* '' La Toilette'', (1870) – 132 x 127 cm., Musée Fabre, Montpellier * '' L'Atelier de la rue Condamine'', (1870) – 98 x 128.5 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris * '' Paysage au bord du Lez'', (1870) – 137.8 x 202.5 cm, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts,

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Gallery

File:Bazille, Frédéric - Self Portrait.jpeg, ''Self Portrait,'' unknown date File:Frédéric Bazille Study of Trees.jpg, ''Study of Trees'', 1863 File:Jean Frédéric Bazille - Reclining Nude - 1864.jpg, ''Reclining Nude'', 1864 File:Frédéric Bazille - The Pink Dress - Google Art Project.jpg, '' The Pink Dress (View of Castelnau-le-Lez, Hérault),'' 1864, oil on canvas,

File:Bazille, Frédéric - Chailly.jpeg, ''Chailly'', 1865, Musée Fabre,

File:Bazille Sutdio in the rue de Furstenberg.jpg, '' Studio on Rue Furstenberg'', 1865, Musée Fabre, Montpellier File:Jean Frédéric Bazille - Little Italian Street Singer 1866.jpg, ''Little Italian Street Singer'', 1866 File:Frédéric Bazille - The Little Gardener - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Le Petit Jardinier (The Little Gardener),'' c. 1866–67, oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Houston File:Frédéric Bazille - Nature morte avec du poisson.jpg, ''Nature morte avec du poisson'', Still life with fish, c. 1866–67 File:Renoir by Bazille.jpg, ''Portrait of Renoir'', 1867, oil on canvas,

File:Bazille, Frédéric - Aigues-Mortes.jpeg, '' Aigues-Mortes'', 1867 File:Réunion de famille - Frédéric Bazille - musée d'Orsay RF 2749.jpg, '' The Family Reunion'', c. 1867,

File:Bazille-Nature morte au héron.JPG, ''Nature morte au héron'', 1867 File:Jean Frédéric Bazille - Etude pour une vendange (left) 1868.jpg, ''Etude pour une vendange'', 1868 File:Bazille, Frédéric ~ View of the Village, 1868.jpg, '' View of the Village'', 1868, Musée Fabre, Montpellier File:Bazille - Pêcheur à l'épervier.jpg, ''Fisherman with a Net'', 1868 File:Bazille, Frédéric - Portrait of Alphonse Tissie.jpeg, ''Portrait of Alphonse Tissie'', 1868, Musée Fabre, Montpellier File:Bazille, Frederic — Flowers — 1868.jpg, ''Flowers'', 1868 File:Frédéric Bazille - Portrait de Paul Verlaine comme une Troubadour.jpg, ''Portrait of Paul Verlaine'', 1868, Dallas Museum of Art File:Bazille, Frédéric ~ Summer Scene, 1869, Oil on canvas Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.jpg, '' Scène d'été,'' 1869, Fogg Art Museum,

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

File:Bazille, Frédéric - Portrait of Edmond Maitre.jpeg, ''Portrait of Edmond Maître'', 1869 File:Bazille, Frédéric ~ La Toilette, 1869-70, Oil on canvas Musee Fabre, Montpelier.jpg, '' La Toilette'', 1870, Musée Fabre File:Frédéric Bazille, Young Woman with Peonies, 1870, NGA 61356.jpg, '' Black Woman with Peonies'', 1870, National Gallery of Art File:Frederic Bazille Paysage au bord du Lez.jpg, ''Paysage au bord du Lez'', 1870, oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Notes

References

*Pitman, Dianne W. (1998). ''Bazille: Purity, Pose and Painting in the 1860s.'' University Park: Penn State University Press. . * Rosenblum, Robert (1989). ''Paintings in the Musée d'Orsay''. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

External links

Frédéric Bazille at the National Gallery of Art

Bazille Gallery at MuseumSyndicate

''Impressionism: a centenary exhibition''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (PDF available online), which contains material on Bazille (p. 37–39) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bazille, Frederic 1841 births 1870 deaths Artists from Montpellier Painters from Occitania (administrative region) 19th-century French painters French male painters French Protestants Occitan people French Orientalist painters French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War French military personnel killed in action Deaths by firearm in France French Impressionist painters 19th-century French male artists Historical figures with ambiguous or disputed sexuality