Michel-Barthélémy Ollivier (24 August 1712,

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

- 15 June 1784,

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 ...

) was a French painter and engraver.Georges Reynaud, "Les Ollivier, peintres et sculpteurs marseillais XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles", in: ''Provence historique'', Vol.57, #229, 200
Online
He specialized in historical 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 ...

scenes.

Life and work

He came from a family of painters, including his father, Louis (1686-?), grandfather Antoine (1645-1716) and cousin Cosme (1651-?). He attended 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 ...

and the

Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (; ) was founded in 1648 in Paris, France. It was the premier art institution of France during the latter part of the Ancien Régime until it was abolished in 1793 during the French Revolution. I ...

. He also studied with

Charles-André van Loo Carle or Charles-André van Loo (; 15 February 1705 – 15 July 1765) was a French painter, son of the painter Louis-Abraham van Loo, a younger brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo and grandson of Jacob van Loo. He was the most famous member of a s ...

. When Van Loo's nephew,

Louis-Michel van Loo Louis-Michel van Loo (2 March 1707 – 20 March 1771) was a French people, French Painting, painter. Biography He studied under his father, the painter Jean-Baptiste van Loo, at Turin and Rome, and he won a prize at the ''Académie Royale d ...

, was appointed a

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

to King

Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...

, Ollivier accompanied him to Madrid. He had returned to Paris by 1750, when he married Faronne-Marie-Madeleine Lefebvre, but returned to Spain with her and remained there until 1763.Brief biography
from Neil Jeffares, ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800'' He was certified as a genre painter at the Académie de Saint-Luc in 1764 and, two years later, became an "agré" (a type of candidate member) at the Académie royale. In 1772, he visited England, where he exhibited at the newly established

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

in London. Many of his works were created for

Louis François, Prince of Conti Louis François de Bourbon, or Louis François I, Prince of Conti (13 August 1717 – 2 August 1776), was a French nobleman who became the Prince of Conti from 1727 to his death, succeeding his father, Louis Armand II, Prince of Conti, Louis Arman ...

, for whom he was the "peintre ordinaire" (painter-in-waiting). His works may be seen at the Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux, the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and the

Musée des beaux-arts de Valenciennes The musée des beaux-arts de Valenciennes is a municipal museum in the French town of Valenciennes. Its collections originated as the collection of the ''Académie valenciennoise de peinture et de sculpture''. It opened to the public for the fir ...

, among others. The locations of many of his works are currently unknown.

References

External links

More works by Ollivier
@ ArtNet
Ollivier
@ the Base Joconde {{DEFAULTSORT:Ollivier, Michel-Barthelemy 1712 births 1784 deaths 18th-century French painters French genre painters Painters from Marseille