Constant Troyon

Constant Troyon
Constant Troyon

Constant Troyon (August 28, 1810 - February 21, 1865), French painter, was born in Sèvres, near Paris, where his father was connected with the famous manufactory of porcelain.

Troyon was an animal painter of the first rank, and was closely associated with the artists who painted around Barbizon. The technical qualities of his methods of painting are most masterly; his drawing is excellent, and his composition always interesting. It was only comparatively late in life that Troyon found his métier, but when he realized his power of painting animals he produced a fairly large number of good pictures in a few years. Troyon entered the ateliers very young as a decorator, and until he was twenty he labored assiduously at the minute details of porcelain ornamentation; and this kind of work he mastered so thoroughly that it was many years before he overcame its limitations. By the time he reached twenty-one he was travelling the country as an artist, and painting landscapes so long as his finances lasted. Then when pressed for money he made friends with the first china manufacturer he met and worked steadily at his old business of decorator until he had accumulated enough funds to permit him to start again on his wanderings.

Troyon was a favorite with Camille Roqueplan, an artist of distinction eight years his senior, and he became one of his pupils after receiving certain tuition from a painter, now quite unknown, named Alfred Riocreux. Roqueplan introduced Troyon to Rousseau, Jules Dupré, and the other Barbizon painters, and in his pictures between 1840 and 1847 he seemed to endeavour to follow in their footsteps. But as a landscapist Troyon would never have been recognized as a thorough master, although his work of the period is marked with much sincerity and met with a certain success. It may be pointed out, however, that in one or two pure landscapes of the end of his life he achieved qualities of the highest artistic kind; but this was after lengthy experience as a cattle painter, by which his talents had become thoroughly developed.

In 1846 Troyon went to the Netherlands, and at the Hague saw Paulus Potter's famous "Young Bull". From the studies he made of this picture, of Cuyp's sunny landscapes, and Rembrandt's noble masterpieces he soon evolved a new method of painting, and it is only in works produced after this time that Troyon's true individuality is revealed. When he became conscious of his power as an animal painter he developed with rapidity and success, until his works became recognized as masterpieces in Britain and America, as well as in all countries of the Continent.

Success, however, came too late, for Troyon never quite believed in it himself, and even when he could command the market of several countries he still grumbled loudly at the way the world treated him. Yet he was decorated with the Legion of Honour, and five times received medals at the Paris Salon, while Napoleon III was one of his patrons; and it is certain he was at least as financially successful as his Barbizon colleagues.

Troyon died, unmarried, at Paris on 21 February 1865, after a term of clouded intellect. All his famous pictures are of date between 1850 and 1864, his earlier work being of comparatively little value. His mother, who survived him, instituted the Troyon prize for animal pictures at the École des Beaux Arts. Troyon's work is fairly well known to the public through a number of large engravings from his pictures. In the Wallace Gallery in London are "Watering Cattle" and "Cattle in Stormy Weather"; in the Glasgow Corporation Gallery is a "Landscape with Cattle"; the Louvre contains his famous "Oxen at Work" and "Returning to the Farm"; while the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other galleries in America contain fine examples of his pictures. His "Valle de la Toucque, Normandy", is one of his greatest pictures; and at Christies sale-room in 1902 the single figure of a cow in a landscape of but moderate quality fetched £7350. Emile van Marcke (1827-1891) was his best-known pupil.

Constant Troyon died in 1865 and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris.

References

See H Dumesnil, Constant Troyon: Souvenirs intimes (Paris, 1888); A Hustin, "Troyon", L'Art, pp. 77 and 85 (Paris, 1889); Albert Wolff, Constant Troyon, La Capitale de l'art (Paris, 1886); DC Thomson, The Barbizon School of Painters (London, 1890); Constant Troyon, The Art Journal (1893), p. 22.


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  • Constant Troyon — im Jahre 1865 Constant Troyon (* 28. August 1810 in Sévres bei Paris; † 21. Februar 1865 in Paris) war ein französischer Landschafts und Tiermaler, der der Schule von Barbizon zugerechnet wird …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Constant Troyon — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Troyon. Constant Troyon …   Wikipédia en Français

  • TROYON (C.) — TROYON CONSTANT (1810 1865) Les parents de Constant Troyon travaillaient à la manufacture de Sèvres, son père comme peintre décorateur, sa mère comme brunisseuse. L’enfant fut encouragé dans le domaine des arts par Riocreux, conservateur du Musée …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Troyon — ist der Name der französischen Gemeinde Troyon in Lothringen Troyon ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Charles Troyon (1867–1948), Schweizer Gesangslehrer Constant Troyon (1810–1865), französischer Landschafts und Tiermaler Frédéric Louis… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Constant (given name) — Constant Gender male Origin Word/Name Latin word constans Meaning constant, steadfast Other names Related names Cons …   Wikipedia

  • Troyon — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Personnalités Constant Troyon (1810 1865) est un artiste peintre français. Localités Troyon (Meuse) est une commune française …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Troyon — (spr. trŭajóng), Constant, franz. Maler, geb. 28. Aug. 1810 in Sèvres, gest. 20. März 1865 in Paris, bildete sich bei Riocreux und Poupart, wurde aber erst durch den Einfluß von Roqueplan auf das unmittelbare Studium der Natur hingelenkt. Die… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Troyon — (spr. trŏajóng), Constant, franz. Tier und Landschaftsmaler, geb. 28. Aug. 1810 zu Sèvres, gest. geisteskrank 21. Febr. 1865 zu Paris …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Troyon —   [trwa jɔ̃], Constant, französischer Maler, * Sèvres 28. 8. 1810, ✝ Paris 20. 3. 1865; Vertreter der Schule von Barbizon; malte mit pastosem Farbauftrag stimmungsvolle Landschaften, häufig mit Tieren.   …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Troyon — /trddwann yawonn /, n. Constant /kawonn stahonn /, 1813 65, French painter. * * * …   Universalium

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