Léon Cogniet (1794-1880) was a French🎨 history and portrait painter. He is probably best remembered as a teacher, with more than one hundred notable students.
He was born in Paris. His father was a painter and wallpaper designer.
In 1812, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-arts, where he studied with Pierre-Narcisse Guérin.
He also worked in the studios of Jean-Victor Bertin. After failing an attempt to win the Prix de Rome in 1816, he won the following year with his depiction of Helen Rescued by Castor and Pollux and received a stipend to study at the French Academy in Rome until 1822. Before leaving, he had his first exhibition at the Salon.
In 1827, he created a series of murals on the life of Saint Stephen for the church of Saint-Nicholas-des-Champs.
From 1833-1835, he painted a scene from Napoleon's expedition to Egypt on one of the ceilings at the Louvre.
Between 1840-1860, he operated a popular painting workshop for women, directed by his sister Marie Amélie and one of his students, Catherine Caroline Thévenin (1813-1892), who later became his wife.
After 1843, he concentrated almost entirely on teaching, with an occasional portrait. After 1855, he essentially gave up painting.
After 1831, he taught design at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. He also taught at the École polytechnique from 1847-1861.
In 1851, he was appointed a Professor at the École des Beaux-arts, a position he held until 1863, when he retired, slowly giving up his private students and becoming more reclusive.
He died forgotten in the 10th arrondissement of Paris in 1880 and is interred at Père-Lachaise.
His sister was the painter Marie Amélie Cogniet. | © Wikipedia
Leon Cogniet | Tintoretto painting his dead daughter, 1843 | Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux
Léon Cogniet è stato un pittore Francese, romantico e neoclassico.
Cogniet entrò all'École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts di Parigi nel 1812.
Fu allievo di Pierre-Narcisse Guérin a fianco di Géricault e di Delacroix. Contemporaneamente frequentò anche l'atelier di Jean-Victor Bertin.
Dopo un fallimento nel 1816 con il quadro "Edone rifiuta di soccorrere Paride", la sua tela "Elena liberata da Castore e Polluce" gli fece vincere il Prix de Rome nel 1817; lo stesso anno debuttò al Salon. Fu quindi ospite dell'Accademia di Francia a Roma dal 1817-1822.
Nel 1827 realizzò una serie di quadri sulla vita di Santo Stefano per la chiesa di Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs a Parigi, quindi, dal 1833-1835, dipinse "La spedizione in Egitto" su uno dei soffitti del palazzo del Louvre.
Il suo maggior successo lo ottenne nel 1843 con il quadro "Tintoretto ritrae la figlia morta". Dopo quest'opera si dedicò solo ai ritratti ed all'insegnamento.
Fu infatti professore di disegno nel Liceo Louis-le-Grand e al Politecnico. Inoltre, insegnò pittura alla "Scuola nazionale superiore di Belle Arti" di Parigi a numerose generazioni di artisti.
Morì all'età di 86 anni, e fu sepolto nel cimitero di Père-Lachaise.
È ricordato sia come ritrattista che come pittore di soggetti storici, ma anche per le sue splendide litografie. | © Wikipedia
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