Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772, Paris – 26 November 1851, Paris) was a French

marine painter Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre parti ...

. Together with

Théodore Gudin Jean Antoine Théodore Gudin (; 15 August 1802 – 11 April 1880) was a French marine painter and court painter to both king Louis Philippe and subsequently Emperor of the French Napoleon III. Along with Louis-Philippe Crépin, he became one of ...

, he was appointed as one of France's first two

Peintres de la Marine Peintre is a commune in the Jura department in Franche-Comté in eastern France. Peintre or Peintres may also refer to: *Peintre Celebre (foaled 1994), thoroughbred racehorse *Peintre-graveur, an artisan who creates original works in engravings *P ...

in 1830.Ministère de l'instruction publique et des beaux-arts; ''Réunion des sociétés des beaux-arts des départements'', vol.27e, 1903, Noémi-Noire Oursel, edito
Online
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Biography

He studied marine painting with

Joseph Vernet Claude-Joseph Vernet (; 14 August 17143 December 1789) was a French painter. His son, Carle Vernet, was also a painter. Life and work Vernet was born in Avignon. When only fourteen years of age he aided his father, Antoine Vernet (1689–1753) ...

and landscapes with

Hubert Robert Hubert Robert (; 22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808) was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.Jean de Cayeux ...

. Before that, he had been a sailor with four years of experience as a

helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver or steersman) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, airship, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fis ...

and (a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

in charge of the sails). He had his first exhibit at the

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 ...

in 1796 with "La sortie du port de Brest". He would hold showings there intermittently until 1835. As early as 1817, he received a letter from the "Ministre de la Marine et des Colonies",

Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, 1st Marquis of Gouvion-Saint-Cyr (; 13 April 1764 – 17 March 1830) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was a made a Marshal of the Empire in 1812 by Empero ...

, giving him a twenty-year commission to create marine paintings for the government; especially the Ministère de la Marine, where he set up a workshop. This was, however, tempered by a disappointment; the position of painter to the

Admiral of France Admiral of France () is a French title of honour. It is the naval equivalent of Marshal of France and was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France. History The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, during the Eighth Crusad ...

(

Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême (6 August 1775 – 3 June 1844) was the elder son of Charles X of France and the last Dauphin of France from 1824 to 1830. He was a ''petit-fils de France'' at birth, and was initially known as Lo ...

) had gone to

Louis Garneray Ambroise Louis Garneray (19 February 1783 – 11 September 1857) was a French corsair, painter and writer. He served under Robert Surcouf and Jean-Marie Dutertre, and was held as prisoner-of-war aboard Royal Navy prison hulks for eight years ...

. At the age of fifty-eight, in part due to a bit of self-promotion, he was appointed as one of the first two official marine painters of the French government. That same year, together with the much younger painters

Eugène Isabey Eugène Louis Gabriel Isabey (; 22 July 1803 – 25 April 1886) was a French painter, lithographer and watercolorist in the Romantic style. Biography He was born to Jean-Baptiste Isabey, a well known painter who enjoyed the patronage of ...

and Léon Morel-Fatio, he took part in the Invasion of Algiers. His new position eventually became somewhat ceremonial, as he ceased to exhibit in 1836. His best known painting is "Combat de la frégate française La Bayonnaise contre la frégate anglaise l’Embuscade 14 décembre 1798", which was commissioned by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

for display at the

Tuileries The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

. It was shown at the Salon in 1801. Until 1834, it was hung in the former residence of the Empress at the

Château de Saint-Cloud The château de Saint-Cloud () was a château in France, built on a site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about west of Paris. The gardens survive, and the estate is now known as the Parc de Saint-Cloud. The château was ...

, then was transferred to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

by King

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

. Since 1935, it has been at the

Musée national de la Marine The Musée national de la Marine (; "National Navy Museum") is a maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It has annexes at Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort ( Musée National de la Ma ...

. He also was one of the fourteen artists who contributed to ''Episodes maritimes'', along with Garneray, Gudin, Isabey,

Biard Biard () is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France, in the Boivre valley. A suburb of Poitiers, Biard gives its name to the Poitiers–Biard Airport, located 2 km west of the city. Local f ...

and others, who have largely been forgotten.

References

External links

More works by Crépin
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Crepin, Louis-Philippe 1772 births 1851 deaths 18th-century French painters 19th-century French painters French male painters French marine artists Peintres de la Marine 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French male artists

Biography

References

Further reading

External links