Théophile-Abraham Hamel (8 November 1817 – 23 December 1870) was a Canadian artist who painted mainly portraits and religious images in 19th-century Quebec.

Life

Hamel was born in 1817 in Sainte-Foy (then a suburb of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

), the son of a successful farmer. Hamel's paternal ancestry can be traced to French immigrant Jean Hamel, who arrived in

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

from Avremesnil (

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

) in 1656. In 1834 Théophile was already taking art lessons from Antoine Plamondon. For a while he attended the Accademia di San Luca, in Rome. He was very much interested in the works of the

Romantics Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

Career

His early portraits show a mixture of European romanticism and Canadian simplicity. His style gradually changed to match the taste of his clients for simple, honest, even prim portraits. In 1838 he painted 'Three Indian Chiefs Leading a Delegation to Quebec. In 1843, Hamel travelled to Europe (London, Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice, and then north to France and Belgium). In 1846 he returned to Canada to Quebec. Throughout his career he travelled throughout

Canada East Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...

and

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, painting portraits of such notables as Sir John Beverley Robinson, Denis-Benjamin Viger, Sir Allan MacNab,

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (; October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Province of Quebec (1763–1791), Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reform ...

, John Sandfield Macdonald, and Sir Étienne Taché. He worked quickly, often completing a portrait in a single day. Hamel also painted religious pictures for various commissions, and a series of "imaginative" or "semi-imaginative" portraits of

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

, Jean Talon, Montcalm, and General James Murray. The image of Cartier even appeared on a banknote. It is estimated that Hamel painted more than 2000 portraits during his lifetime. In 1848, he painted portraits of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine. In 1850-1, he painted Egerton Ryerson. In 1853, he painted 'Madame Renaud and Her Daughters Wilhemine and Emma'. His painting 'L'Abbé Edouard Faucher', painted in 1855, now hangs at Eglise de Saint-Laurent, Lotbiniere. His painting of Sir Allan MacNab, painted in 1853, hangs in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

Family

In 1857, at age of 40, he married Mathilde-Georgiana Faribault, daughter of George-Barthélemy Faribault, a pioneer librarian. He died in Quebec City, in December 1870.Hubbard, p. 61.

Gallery

Image:Jacques Cartier 1851-1852.jpg,

Image:Samuel-de-champlain-s.jpg,

File:Hamel Self-Portrait 1837.jpg, Théophile Hamel Self-Portrait 1837 Image:Hamel Self-Portrait 1846.jpg, Théophile Hamel Self-Portrait 1846 Image:Hamel Mgr Joseph Signay.jpg, Mgr Joseph Signay Image:Hamel Lecodie Bilodeau.jpg, Lecodie Bilodeau Image:Louis-Joseph Papineau 1878.jpg,

File:Théophile Hamel (1817-1870) Noémie, Eugénie, Antoinette et Séphora Hamel (1854).jpg, Noémie, Eugénie, Antoinette et Séphora Hamel (1854) File:Allan MacNab.jpg, Allan MacNab File:Louis-Jacques Casault.jpg, Louis-Jacques Casault File:Portrait of Montcalm.JPG, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm (1712-1759) File:Baldwin-sm.jpg, Robert Baldwin File:Adolphus Egerton Ryerson.jpg, Adolphus Egerton Ryerson File:Wolfred Nelson.jpg, Wolfred Nelson, 1848 File:John kane.jpg, John Kane, 1852 File:DBviger.jpg, Denis-Benjamin Viger File:Louis-Victor Sicotte.jpg, Louis-Victor Sicotte

Works

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamel, Theophile 1817 births 1870 deaths 19th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters Artists from Quebec City Canadian portrait painters People from Sainte-Foy, Quebec City 19th-century Canadian male artists