Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre

PAINTER (FRANCE)
BORN 14 Dec 1824, Lyon - DIED 24 Oct 1898, Paris
BIRTH NAME Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre-Cécile
GRAVE LOCATION Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine: Cimetière Ancien, 3 Rue Victor Noir (division 01)

Son of a mining engineer. He was educated at Lyon and at the Lycée Henri IV in Paris. After an illness and a journey to Italy he decided to become a painter in 1844. He studied under Delacroix, Scheffer and Couture.

In 1852 he exhibited his first work at the Salon, a "Pietà". He had a hard time before his work found any recognition with the public, but after the state acquired one of his paintings things went better. although he was educated by romanticists, his work is classified among the symbolists. He decorated the walls of the stairs of the museum in Amiens and made a series of paintings for the Panthéon in Paris.

In Montmartre he had an affair with Suzanne Valadon, who was one of his models at the time. He married Princess Marie Cantacuzene whom he had met in the studio of Chassériau (she died a few months before himself). In 1890 he was a co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and became its first president. Since 1926 the Société yearly awards the Prix Puvis de Chavannes.

Related persons
• has a connection with Béraud, Jean
• was influenced by Chassériau, Théodore
• was pupil of Couture, Thomas
• was pupil of Delacroix, Eugène
• admired Janmot, Louis
• was teacher of La Lyre, Adolphe
• was pupil of Scheffer, Ary
• was the lover of Valadon, Suzanne
• was teacher of Valadon, Suzanne

Images

The mausoleum of Puvis de Chavannes at Neuilly Cimetière, Paris.
Picture by Androom (27 Aug 2001)

 

'Saint Genoveva as a Child in Prayer'.
   (c1874-1876, Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum)
 

Sources
• Beyern, Bertrand, Guide des Cimetières en France, Le Cherche Midi Éditeur, Paris, 1994
The Pre-Raphaelite Collection, 2000
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (editie 1909), 1909
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes - Wikipedia
Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Pierre Puvis de Chavannes - Wikisource, the free online library


Quensen, Adolf

Published: 24 Oct 2009
Last update: 25 Apr 2022