Cogniet, Léon

PAINTER (FRANCE)
BORN 29 Aug 1794, Paris - DIED 20 Nov 1880, Paris
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Père Lachaise, Rue du Repos 16 (division 15, ligne 01, Z, 30)

Léon Cogniet was the son of a painter and wallpaper designer. From 1812 onwards he was a pupil of Pierre Narcisse Guérin at the École des Beaux-arts. In 1816 he failed to win the Prix de Rome, but in 1817 he won it with "Helen Rescued by Castor and Pollux". He exhibited at the Salon before he left for Rome, where he stayed until 1822. After 1831 he worked as a teacher at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand.

From 1833 to 1835 he created a painting of Napoleon's expedition to Egypt on a ceiling at the Louvre. Although he was educated in the classical style of David, he was more attracted to romanticism.

From 1840 to 1860 he ran a painting workshop for women that was directed by his sister, the painter Marie Amélie Cogniet. His pupil Catherine Caroline Thévenin (1813-1892) became his wife in 1865. After 1843 he mostly concentrated on teaching and in 1855 he gave up painting almost entirely. From 1847 to 1861 he was also a teacher at the École polytechnique.

In 1851 he became a Professor at the École des Beaux-arts until his retirement in 1863. Cogniet had been elected into the Académie des Beaux Arts, but at the time of his death in 1880 he was almost forgotten.

Related persons
• painted Champollion, Jean François
• was teacher of Cot, Pierre-Auguste
• was teacher of Dehodencq, Alfred
• was a friend of Delacroix, Eugène
• was teacher of Feyen-Perrin, Augustin
• was a friend of Géricault, Théodore
• was teacher of Lefebvre, Jules
• was teacher of Richter, Gustav
• was a friend of Scheffer, Ary

Images

The grave of Léon Cogniet at Père Lachaise, Paris.
Picture by Androom (02 Nov 2018)

 

Sources
• Baedeker, Karl, Paris et ses Environs, Karl Baedeker Éditeur, Leipzig, 1931
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909
Léon Cogniet - Wikipedia


Cohen, Hermann

Published: 16 Dec 2018
Last update: 19 Apr 2020