Jean-louis ernest meissonier biography of michael jackson

Ernest Meissonier was born in Lyon. His father, Charles, had been a successful businessman, the proprietor of a factory in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, that made dyes for the textile industry. He expected Ernest, the eldest of his two sons, to follow him into the dye business. After being placed with a druggist in the Rue des Lombardsat age seventeen, he obtained leave from his parents to become an artist.

He paid short visits to Rome and to Switzerlandand exhibited in the Salon of a painting then called Les Bourgeois Flamands Dutch Burghersbut also known as The Visit to the Burgomastersubsequently purchased by Sir Richard Wallacein whose collection at Hertford HouseLondon it is, with fifteen other examples of this painter. It was the first attempt in France in the particular genre which was destined to make Meissonier famous: microscopic painting miniature in oils.

Working hard for daily bread at illustrations for the publishers Curmer, Hetzel and Dubocherhe, Meissonier also exhibited at the Salon of with Chess Player and the Errand Boy. Steinheil, one of his artistic companions. On the birth registration of his daughter he described himself as a "painter of history". After some not very happy attempts at religious painting, he returned, under the influence of Antoine-Marie Chenavard[ citation needed ] to the class of work he was born to excel in, and exhibited with much success the Game of Chessthe Young Man playing the 'CelloPainter in his StudioThe Guard Roomthe Young Man looking at Drawingsthe Game of Piquetand the Game of Bowlsworks which show the finish and certainty of his technique, and assured his success.

Meissonier became known as the French Metsua reference to the seventeenth-century Dutch painter Gabriel Metsuwho specialised in miniature scenes of bourgeois domestic life; "grandiose history paintings did not sell as readily as smaller canvases such as landscapes or portraits, which fitted more easily onto the walls of Paris apartments".

He specialised in scenes from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century life, portraying his bonshommesor goodfellows - playing chess, smoking pipes, reading books, sitting before easels or double basses, or posing in the uniforms of musketeers or halberdiers [-] all executed in microscopic detail. The work, a battle scene, represented something of a departure for the painter of bonshommes and musketeers though Meissonier had already painted scenes of violence and massacre, such as Remembrance of Civil Warand in had indeed seen active service as a captain in the National Guard, when he fought on the side of the republican government during the June Days.

Louis Fould ; to that of The Emperor at Solferinoand In June Meissonier travelled to Antibes with canvas and easel, together with his wife, son and daughter, and two of his horses, Bachelier and Lady Coningham. The light of the south attracted Meissonnier. The view at Antibes is one of the fairest sights in nature. Meissonier worked with elaborate care and a scrupulous observation of nature.

His father, a dye merchant, moved the family to Paris three years later. His primary teachers, however, were the seventeenth and eighteenth century Dutch, Flemish and French painters at the Louvre, particularly the still life and genre painters. The play of light and shadow, as well as the delicately rendered tabletop still life, echoed the works of painters such as Gerard Dou or Gabriel Metsu, whose paintings were attracting increasing attention from a new generation of still life artists.

In addition, Flemish Burghers appealed to the bourgeois taste for historical costume dramas. Rather, his primary source of reliable income in these years was the design of wood engravings for book illustrations. With the triumph of Flemish Burghers inthe young artist realized that his skill in creating evocative—and precisely detailed—historical genre images had the potential to become a solid base for his career.

Jean-louis ernest meissonier biography of michael jackson

Meissonier's ambition was unparalleled. In one anecdote, he returned a significant sum of money to a noblewoman for a portrait he believed she disliked, promptly scraping the painting off the canvas. Nonetheless, his popularity remained incredibly high during his lifetime, with his paintings selling quickly and eagerly sought after.

His status at court undoubtedly contributed to his success. Today, Ernest Meissonier's paintings are of interest as expressions of the societal taste of his time. He passed away on January 31,in Paris. His son, Jean-Charles Meissonier, followed in his footsteps, becoming an artist himself and receiving the Legion of Honour in His genre paintings and scenes depicting Napoleon's life are particularly renowned.

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