- Félix Bracquemond
Félix Bracquemond (1833 in
Paris – 1914 inSèvres ) was a French impressionist painter andetcher .He was trained in early youth as a trade
lithographer , untilGuichard , a pupil of Ingres, took him to his studio. Hisportrait of his grandmother, painted by him at the age of nineteen, attractedTheophile Gautier 's attention at the Salon. He applied himself toengraving and etching about 1853, and played a leading and brilliant part in the revival of the etcher's art inFrance . Altogether he produced over eight hundred plates, comprising portraits, landscapes, scenes of contemporary life, and bird-studies, besides numerous interpretations of other artist's paintings, especially those ofJean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier ,Gustave Moreau andJean-Baptiste Camille Corot . After having been attached to the Sevresporcelain factory in 1870, he accepted a post as art manager of the Paris "atelier " of the firm ofHaviland ofLimoges . He was connected by a link of firm friendship withÉdouard Manet ,James McNeill Whistler , and all the other fighters in theimpressionist cause, and received all the honors that await the successful artist in France, including the grade of officer of theLegion of Honor in 1889.Bracquemond was a prominent figure in artistic and literary circles in the second half of the 19th century. He was close to writers such as
Edmond de Goncourt and critic Gustave Geffroy, and numbered among his friends Millet and Corot,Henri Fantin-Latour ,Degas and the Impressionist circle, andAuguste Rodin . He was one of the more prolific printmakers of his time and he was awarded the "grande medaille d'honneur" at theUniversal Exhibition of 1900. He was also a painter, ceramist, and an innovator in decorative arts.Gabriel Weisberg called him the "molder of artistic taste in his time". [cite journal
last = Weisberg
first = Gabriel
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Félix Bracquemond and the Molding of French Taste
journal = Artnews
volume =
issue =
pages = 64–66
publisher =
location =
month = September | year = 1976
url =
doi =
id = ] Indeed it was he who recognised the beauty of theHokusai woodcuts used as packing around a shipment of Japanese china, a discovery which helped change the look of late 19th century art. [cite journal
last = Bouillon
first = Jean-Paul
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Remarques sur la Japonisme de Bracquemond
journal = Japonisme in Art, Art Symposium
volume =
issue =
pages = 83–108
publisher = Kodansha International
location = Tokyo
year = 1980
url =
doi =
id = ]He married French Impressionist artist
Marie Bracquemond in 1869.References
*1911
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