Jean-Léonard Lugardon (30 September 1801, in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

– 16 August 1884, in Geneva) was a Swiss painter of portraits, historical scenes and

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

pieces.

Life and works

His ancestors were

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

who had fled France, following the

revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to pra ...

. He was born to the

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

, Albert Lugardon, and his wife, Catherine, née Duboule. His training in art began at the , where he won several prizes. From 1820 to 1822, he studied with

Antoine-Jean Gros Antoine-Jean Gros (; 16 March 177125 June 1835) was a French painter of historical subjects. He was granted the title of Baron Gros in 1824. Gros studied under Jacques-Louis David in Paris and began an independent artistic career during the ...

in Paris, and

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( ; ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. He worked there again, from 1823, when he held his first exhibition, to 1825. In 1824, Ingres encouraged him to enter a history painting competition in Geneva, which he won. After a brief return to Switzerland, occasioned by the death of his father, he was back in Italy, in Rome, from 1826 to 1829. In 1826, he married Suzanne Paschoud, daughter of the printer and bookseller, Jean-Jacques Paschoud (1768-1826). The following year, she gave birth to their son, Albert (1827-1909), who also became a painter. She died while giving birth to a second child in 1830. He then returned to Geneva and began taking students: notably,

Barthélemy Menn Barthélemy Menn (20 May 1815 – 10 October 1893) was a Swiss people, Swiss painter and draughtsman who introduced the principles of ''plein-air'' painting and the ''paysage intime'' into Swiss art. Early life Menn was the youngest of four sons, ...

. After a successful showing at the

Salon of 1835 The Salon of 1835 was an art exhibition held at the Louvre in Paris. It was staged during the July Monarchy and was part of the tradition of Salon (Paris), Salons dating back to the seventeenth century. Since the Salon of 1833 the exhibitions were ...

, he briefly returned to Paris. From 1836 to 1843, he was the Director of the figure drawing school at the Société des Arts. He also served as a city Councilor, from 1837 to 1842. In 1851, he went on an extended study trip to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

; making sketches. He presented his finished works at the

Exposition Universelle (1855) The of 1855 (), better known in English as the 1855 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France, from 15 May to 15 November 1855. Its full official title was the . It was the first of ten major expositions ...

. During that same period, he had some creative disagreements with the Société and became one of the founding members of the Fine Arts division of the , a project of the radical politician,

James Fazy James Fazy (12 May 1794 – 6 November 1878) was a Switzerland, Swiss politician and President of the Swiss Council of States (1854). From 1846 to 1853 and from 1854 to 1861, Fazy was "conseiller d'Etat" (State councillor) in Geneva. According to ...

. In the late 1850s, his health began to decline, affecting his mental abilities, as well as physical. After that, he focused on presenting his existing works through the media of

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

and photography. From the late 1860s, he was essentially in retirement.

References

External links

More works by Lugardon
@ ArtNet * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lugardon, Jean-Leonard 1801 births 1884 deaths Artists from Geneva Swiss people of French descent Swiss portrait painters History painters Swiss genre painters

Life and works

References

Further reading

External links