François-Nicolas Chifflart (21 March 1825 – 19 March 1901) was a French painter, illustrator and etcher.

Biography

He was born in

Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; vls, Sint-Omaars) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Saint Audoma ...

. His father was a locksmith who was also known for his skill as a carver and worked for Louis Fiolet, a notable manufacturer of earthenware tobacco pipes. He introduced his son to printmaking. François began studying at the municipal school of design at an early age. In 1844, he entered the

École des Beaux-arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

and became a student of

Léon Cogniet Léon Cogniet (29 August 1794 – 20 November 1880) was a French history and portrait painter. He is probably best remembered as a teacher, with more than one hundred notable students. Biography He was born in Paris. His father was a painter ...

. He took third place in the competition for 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 ...

in 1850 for his painting ''Zénobie sur les bords de l'Araxe'' (''

Zenobia Septimia Zenobia ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city ...

on the Banks of the Aras'') then, the following year, was awarded first placeExhibition notes
@ the Musée d'Orsay. for ''Périclès au lit de mort de son fils'' (''

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelo ...

at the Deathbed of His Son''). Shortly after, he rebelled against the

Academicism Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie ...

of the time, focusing more on designing and engraving. His illustrations for ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

'' were especially notable and were praised by Baudelaire. Later, he made the acquaintance of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

and began a new career as an illustrator in 1867. He helped design illustrations for Hugo's '' Toilers of the Sea'' (engraved by

Fortuné Méaulle Fortuné Louis Méaulle (11 April 1844, Angers – 11 May 1916)"On annonce la mort de : M. Fortuné Méaulle, le dessinateur bien connu qui illustra notamment les pauvres de Victor-Hugo." iJournal des débats politiques et littéraires, 15 May 191 ...

) and a new edition of ''

The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story ...

''. He lost most of his clientele when he began to harshly criticize

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

during the Franco-Prussian War,Biographical notes
@ the Saint-Omer website. and sank into an oblivion from which he never fully recovered. Despite this, a street in Saint-Omer has been named after him. He died in 1901 in Paris.

Selected works

File:Chifflart - Das Gewissen - 1877.jpeg, ''Conscience'', from
''

La Légende des siècles ''La Légende des siècles'' (English: ''The Legend of the Ages'') is a collection of poems by Victor Hugo, conceived as an immense depiction of the history and evolution of humanity. Written intermittently between 1855 and 1876 while Hugo worked ...

'' File:Chifflart Périclès au lit de mort de son fils.JPG, ''Pericles at the
Deathbed of his Son'' File:Chifflart Cholera.jpg, ''Cholera in Paris'' File:Victor hugo Chifflart.jpg, ''Portrait of Victor Hugo''

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Chifflart

"François- Nicolas Chifflart, illustrateur de Victor Hugo « un oeil, tout grand ouvert dans les ténèbres »"
(An Eye Wide Open in the Darkness) @ Paris.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Chifflart, Francois 1825 births 1901 deaths French illustrators People from Saint-Omer French lithographers Prix de Rome for painting 19th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French male artists

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links