Alexis Grimou
Alexis Grimou | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait as a drinker (1724) | |
| Born | 24 May 1678 Argenteuil,[1] France |
| Died | May 1733 Paris, France |
Alexis Grimou, also Grimoult or Grimoux (1678-1733) was a French portrait painter.[2] He worked for an elite clientele and was called the French Rembrandt as he introduced the Northern European style of portrait painting in France.[3] Many of his intimate portraits at half-lengths were influential on the development of 18th century portrait painting in France. Portrait painters such as Jean-Honoré Fragonard, and Jean-Baptiste Greuze were influenced by his work.[4]
Biography
His father was a carpenter. He is often confused with Jean Grimou (1674-1733), an unrelated Swiss genre painter whose father served with the Swiss Guards at Versailles. Grimou probably trained with François de Troy, from whom he learnt to use a warm palette and simple pictorial compositions.[4] Sometime in the late 1690s, he was apprenticed to the painter and engraver, Bon Boullogne.[5]
In 1704, he married Marie-Gabrielle Petit, a niece of Procopio Cutò, founder of the Café Procope, a meeting place for artists and intellectuals. Economics may have been a motive in the union, as a notary document in the Archives Nationales reveals that she owned a considerable amount of property on Mauritius; along with slaves and "autres effets mobiliers et immobiliers" (other assets, moveable and immoveable).
His brother-in-law, Matthias François Petit, was the intermediary who, between 1740 and 1753, was commissioned to purchase art for the collection of King Friedrich II of Prussia. That collection would come to include numerous works by Boullogne and his students.[5].
Since 1700, his name had appeared in the registry of the Académie Royale, but there is no record of any activity. In 1705, he was commissioned to paint portraits of the sculptor, Jean Raon, who died before it was completed, and the painter, Antoine Coypel, whose portrait was still unfinished by 1709. As a result, he was removed from their list and became a member of the Académie de Saint-Luc instead.[4][6]
That same year, he may have visited the Netherlands to copy the Dutch Masters. This is inferred from a sudden darkening in his use of color and some copies he made later. Known to have a dissolute lifestyle, he was always in debt and often paid his creditors with small works done on the spot. From 1720 until his death, for unknown reasons, he became much more responsible and productive.
He died in 1733, well known and appreciated for his painting, but personally unpopular because he was generally considered to be "bizarre et singulier"[7]. Although acknowledged as an exaggeration, he was sometimes called the "French Rembrandt". In 1805, he was the subject of a vaudeville, staged by Maxime de Redon in Paris.
His works may been seen in museums throughout France. as well as at the Uffizi in Florence and the Scottish National Gallery.
References
- ^ Alexis Grimou – Larousse.fr
- ^ Alexis Grimou at the RKD
- ^ Melissa Percival, Taste and Trade: The Drinking Portraits of Alexis Grimou (1678–1733) in The Art Bulletin Volume 101, 2019 - Issue 1, pp. 6-25
- ^ a b c Corinne Maisant, Alexis Grimou, Grove Art online
- ^ a b François Marandet, Musée Magnin
- ^ Web Gallery of Art
- ^ Mercure français
Further reading
- C. Gabillot, Alexis Grimou, peintre français (1678-1733), Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1911
- Louis Réau, "Grimou, 1678 à 1733", in Louis Dimier (Ed.), Les Peintres français du XVIIIe siècle, Vol.2, G. Van Oest, Paris, Brussels, 1930, pgs.195-215.
External links
Media related to Alexis Grimou at Wikimedia Commons
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