Jean-François Clermont (1717,

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 ...

- 9 April 1807,

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

) was a French painter, designer and

etcher 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 ...

Biography

He may have been a descendent of Jean Clermont (1630-?), a student of

Eustache Le Sueur Eustache Le Sueur or Lesueur (; 19 November 161730 April 1655) was a French artist and one of the founders of the French Academy of Painting. He is known primarily for his paintings of religious subjects. He was a leading exponent of the neocl ...

, who was originally from

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

. Nothing is known of his early life or studies. At some point, he left France and spent several years in England. In 1754 he returned to Paris. Two years later, he participated in an exhibition at the

Académie de Saint-Luc The Académie de Saint-Luc (; ) was a guild of painters and sculptors set up in Paris in 1391, and dissolved in 1776. It was created by the Provost of Paris, along the lines of the Guilds of Saint Luke in other parts of Europe. In 1648, a group ...

. In 1760, the "Académie de Reims" chose him to be their new Professor of Drawing.''Gazette des beaux-arts'', Vol.18, J. Claye, 1865, pg.237. He was paid 1,500

Livres Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * F ...

and began with eighteen students, including

Lié Louis Périn-Salbreux Lié Louis Périn-Salbreux (12 October 1753 – 20 December 1817) was a French portrait painter, pastelist and miniaturist. Biography Périn-Salbreux was born and died in Reims. He came from a family of textile manufacturers. As he had fou ...

, , and . His tenure there was, however, fraught with problems. At a local fair, in 1768, a print dealer was found with three boxes full of prints and drawings which he said were bought from Clermont for 105 Livres. Upon being questioned, Clermont dismissed it as a simple case of "thoughtlessness".''Le Livret du Musée de Reims, suivi de notices historiques sur l’école de Reims, le Musée, la Bibliothèque et les archives'', 1845, pg.11 ff.. By 1779, he was complaining of the many annoyances created by his pupils and fellow faculty members. His resignation was accepted, and a successor chosen, when the city of Reims begged him to stay, offering him a bonus of 200 Livres to do so. In the end, he would remain until the school was abolished during the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

Édouard Charton Édouard Charton (; 11 May 1807 – 27 February 1890) was a French literary figure who founded the magazine ''Le Magasin pittoresque,'' and served as its editor-in-chief for fifty-five years (1833–88). He also served as director of publicat ...

, ''Magasin pittoresque'', 15th ed., Bureaux d’Abonnement et de Vente, 1847, pg.163. He found a position at another school, but the times were not favorable to the arts. In 1795, during the construction of the

École centrale The écoles centrales (literally ''central schools'') were schools set up in 1795 during the French Revolution to replace the college of art faculties in France's historic universities. The idea for them came from the Committee of Public Instruct ...

in Châlons, he was offered a position similar to the one he held at the Académie, but it did not live up to his expectations. In 1803, he sold his remaining paintings and drawings. He died in poverty, four years later. His decorative paintings may still be seen at many homes in the area. The

Carnegie Library of Reims The Carnegie Library of Reims () is a public library built with money donated by businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to the city of Reims after World War I. Reims was one of three "front-line" cities to be given a Carnegie library, the ...

has a large collection of his pencil drawings and some engravings.

References

External links

More works by Clermont
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Clermont, Jean-Francois 1717 births 1807 deaths 18th-century French painters French etchers 18th-century etchers Painters from Paris 19th-century French painters

Biography

References

Further reading

External links