Alphonse Monchablon
Xavier-Alphonse Monchablon (12 June 1835, in Avillers – 30 January 1907, in Paris) was a French history and portrait painter in the Academic style. He was distantly related to the more popular painter, Jan Monchablon.
Biography
His father was a teacher and amateur artist, who gave him some of his first lessons. He was also apprenticed to a lithographer in Mirecourt.[1] In 1856, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-arts, where he studied with Sébastien Cornu (1804-1870) and Charles Gleyre. He achieved second-place in the Prix de Rome in 1862 and, the following year, tied for first-place with his painting of Joseph being recognized by his brothers.[1]
He had his début at the Salon in 1866. Throughout his life, he exhibited widely and was awarded several medals, including a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle (1900). He also created numerous religious frescoes; notably those in the crypt at the "Basilique du Bois Chênu" of Domrémy-la-Pucelle, the seminary in Angers and the Eudist chapel at Versailles.
In addition, he executed a mural called the "Glories of Lorraine" for the amphitheater of the Faculty of Letters at the University of Lorraine in Nancy.[2] This was done in response to the German annexation of most of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871.
Among his best-known portraits are those of Prime Minister Louis Buffet, the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza and the sculptor Ernest-Eugène Hiolle. He is also known for a widely distributed engraving of Victor Hugo.
He became a Knight of the Légion d'Honneur in 1897.[3] His son, Édouard, won the Prix de Rome for painting in 1903. His daughter, Gabrielle, married the flautist Louis Fleury and was a moderately successful concert pianist.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Brief biography @ the Le Vésinet website.
- ^ Obituary from Bulletin des sociétés artistiques de l'Est @ Gallica.
- ^ Dossier @ the Base Leonore.
Further reading
- Jean-François Michel, "Xavier-Alphonse Monchablon" in Les Vosgiens célèbres. Dictionnaire biographique illustré, Albert Ronsin (ed.) Éditions Gérard Louis, Vagney, 1990 ISBN 2-907016-09-1
External links
Media related to Alphonse Monchablon at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- People from Vosges (department)
- 1835 births
- 1907 deaths
- 19th-century French painters
- French male painters
- 20th-century French painters
- 19th-century French lithographers
- 20th-century French lithographers
- History painters
- Portrait painters
- Prix de Rome for painting
- École des Beaux-Arts
- Légion d'honneur recipients
- 20th-century French printmakers