Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Born August 29, 1780 in the city of Montauban near Toulouse. The father, being a sculptor and painter, from the very childhood instilled in the child a love for creative pursuits, teaching him to sing, play the violin and, of course, draw. It is not surprising that among the paintings of the future classic of European academicism one can find a drawing made by him at the age of nine.
The artist received further training in Toulouse, at the local Academy of Fine Arts. Being rather constrained in funds, the young man earned a living by playing in the orchestra of the Toulouse Capitol Theater. Upon completion of the course at the academy, the seventeen-year-old Ingres goes to the capital, where Jacques-Louis David becomes his teacher. A recognized adherent and one of the leaders of classicism, David had a strong influence on the views and style of creativity of his talented student. But Ingres quickly moved away from the blind inheritance of the manners of the classics and his mentor, gave the classicist system a new breath, expanded and deepened it, making it much closer to the demands and requirements of a changing era.
Every year, one of the Parisian young artists was traditionally awarded the Great Roman Prize, the winner of which could continue his studies in painting at the French Academy of Rome for four years. Ingres very much dreamed of getting it, but at the insistence of David, the prize of 1800 went to another of his students. There was a serious quarrel between Ingres and his mentor, which resulted in the departure of the young artist from the workshop of his teacher.
The perseverance and undoubted growth of the skill of the young painter allowed him to achieve in the next year 1801 the award of the coveted prize for the painting “Ambassadors of Agamemnon at Achilles”. But the dream of traveling around Italy and spending four years at the academy in Rome could not come true then - the artist had serious financial problems. Left in Paris, he attended private art schools to save on sitters. Attempts to make money by illustrating books were not crowned with much success, but drawing portraits to order turned out to be a very profitable occupation. But the soul of the broad nature of Ingres did not lie to portraits, and he maintained until the end of his life that these orders only hindered his real work.
In 1806, Ingres nevertheless managed to move to Italy, lived for a long 14 years in Rome and 4 more in Florence. Returning then to Paris, he opens his own school of painting. After some time, the 55-year-old master receives the post of director of the Roman French Academy and again finds himself in the Eternal City. But already in 1841, he returned to Paris forever, where, at the height of fame and recognition, he lived until his death in 1867.
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres is a French neoclassical painter. Jean Auguste Ingres was born in 1780 in Montauban, France. Following in the footsteps of his father, little Jean Auguste learned to draw and play the violin. The talented boy chose painting as his future career.
Early period, training
In 1791, Ingres entered the Academy of Arts in Toulouse, where he simultaneously played in the theater orchestra for reasons of earnings, since the family was not rich. After graduating from the Academy, Ingres became a student of the famous painter Jacques Louis David in 1797.
David notes the success of the student and reads him a promising future, but in 1800 Ingres leaves the teacher's workshop due to disagreements between them and begins to paint on his own. Having learned from the lessons of David a special vision of forms in the most favorable light, Ingres begins his work with a nude male nature in the course of studying ancient art.
A year later, the artist receives the most prestigious award at that time, the Great Roman Prize, for the work “Ambassadors of Agamemnon at Achilles”.
During this period, Ingres tries to find a stable way of earning money, starts illustrating printed publications, but this does not bring a good income. Portraits bring him income. Ingres takes his first serious steps as a portrait painter by painting a portrait of the First Consul in 1983. The artist did not like this type of activity, he did not consider it a serious art and considered it as a way to earn money. Being a professional in his field and a talented painter, Ingres achieves heights in the portrait genre, being in constant creative search.
Roman period
From 1806 to 1820, Ingres worked in Italy, where he discovered an extreme interest in the art of the Renaissance. Antique frescoes, the painting of the Sistine Chapel, the entire appearance of the Eternal City made an indelible impression on the artist, leaving their mark on his works of that period. Here he paints such his famous paintings as "The Big Bather", a nude female nature. Here he continues to paint portraits, acquiring several wealthy customers. So he received a large order for a canvas 5 meters long "Romulus who defeated Akron", which he painted in tempera, which made the picture look like a fresco.
The Roman period, and especially the years 1812-1814, is the most productive period in the artist's life. He worked on several canvases at once, often returning to certain subjects.
In 1813, the master marries a relative of his friends in Rome. The girl's name was Madeleine Chapelle and she became a faithful and loving wife to Ingres, making him happy.
Florentine period
In 1820, an old friend of Ingres offers to visit him in Florence. Here he finds the customers of portrait paintings, the Leblanc spouses. One of the portraits of Madame Leblanc, painted by Ingres in 1823, is now kept in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Parisian period
In 1824, Ingres decides to return to Paris, where he opens his own art studio. According to David's covenant, he teaches his wards to see the beautiful ideal, the perfection of forms. In 1825 he was awarded the title of academician, Ingres turns into a respected and significant figure in the world of painting. Having been appointed director of the French Academy in Rome, Ingres returned to Italy.
Late Roman period
In 1835, the master enters Italy, where this time he leads a prosperous and prosperous life. Taking his post as the head of the Academy, he works on curricula, improving and deepening them, creating new courses, collecting the library of the Academy. The author continues his creative path and searches. New canvases of the author are born in Rome - "Odalisque and slave", "Madonna in front of the chalice with communion" and others.
Final Parisian period
In 1841, Ingres decides to return to his homeland. In Paris, colleagues arrange a pompous meeting for him - with an orchestra and a gala dinner. The artist receives full, perfect recognition of his talent.
In 1849, the master was crippled by the death of his beloved wife. Due to great grief, he did not create a single painting that year, although he remained a hard-working and active figure until the end of his life. In 1867, at the age of 87, he worked on a new painting, Christ at the Tomb, but never finished it, dying from a severe cold on January 14. The great artist was buried at the Pere Lachaise cemetery.
The memory of the master
In 1869, the Ingres Museum was created in his hometown of Montauban. In total, there are 584 works by the author, according to the catalog of the Paris School of Arts. Today, many of his works are kept in various museums around the world.
The name Ingres is closely associated with the perfection of the forms and compositions of female portraits. His special talent was not to exaggerate the beauty of a woman in a picture, but to find in it and convey that unique charm that is present in every woman. His portraits "Baroness Rothschild", "Countess d" Haussonville "," Madame Gonz "and many others personify his highest level of skill, which influenced future generations of artists.
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres is a French neoclassical painter. Jean Auguste Ingres was born in 1780 in Montauban, France. Following in the footsteps of his father, little Jean Auguste learned to draw and play the violin. The talented boy chose painting as his future career.
Early period, training
In 1791, Ingres entered the Academy of Arts in Toulouse, where he simultaneously played in the theater orchestra for reasons of earnings, since the family was not rich. After graduating from the Academy, Ingres became a student of the famous painter Jacques Louis David in 1797.
David notes the success of the student and reads him a promising future, but in 1800 Ingres leaves the teacher's workshop due to disagreements between them and begins to paint on his own. Having learned from the lessons of David a special vision of forms in the most favorable light, Ingres begins his work with a nude male nature in the course of studying ancient art.
A year later, the artist receives the most prestigious award at that time, the Great Roman Prize, for the work “Ambassadors of Agamemnon at Achilles”.
During this period, Ingres tries to find a stable way of earning money, starts illustrating printed publications, but this does not bring a good income. Portraits bring him income. Ingres takes his first serious steps as a portrait painter by painting a portrait of the First Consul in 1983. The artist did not like this type of activity, he did not consider it a serious art and considered it as a way to earn money. Being a professional in his field and a talented painter, Ingres achieves heights in the portrait genre, being in constant creative search.
Roman period
From 1806 to 1820, Ingres worked in Italy, where he discovered an extreme interest in the art of the Renaissance. Antique frescoes, the painting of the Sistine Chapel, the entire appearance of the Eternal City made an indelible impression on the artist, leaving their mark on his works of that period. Here he paints such his famous paintings as "The Big Bather", a nude female nature. Here he continues to paint portraits, acquiring several wealthy customers. So he received a large order for a canvas 5 meters long "Romulus who defeated Akron", which he painted in tempera, which made the picture look like a fresco.
The Roman period, and especially the years 1812-1814, is the most productive period in the artist's life. He worked on several canvases at once, often returning to certain subjects.
In 1813, the master marries a relative of his friends in Rome. The girl's name was Madeleine Chapelle and she became a faithful and loving wife to Ingres, making him happy.
Florentine period
In 1820, an old friend of Ingres offers to visit him in Florence. Here he finds the customers of portrait paintings, the Leblanc spouses. One of the portraits of Madame Leblanc, painted by Ingres in 1823, is now kept in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Parisian period
In 1824, Ingres decides to return to Paris, where he opens his own art studio. According to David's covenant, he teaches his wards to see the beautiful ideal, the perfection of forms. In 1825 he was awarded the title of academician, Ingres turns into a respected and significant figure in the world of painting. Having been appointed director of the French Academy in Rome, Ingres returned to Italy.
Late Roman period
In 1835, the master enters Italy, where this time he leads a prosperous and prosperous life. Taking his post as the head of the Academy, he works on curricula, improving and deepening them, creating new courses, collecting the library of the Academy. The author continues his creative path and searches. New canvases of the author are born in Rome - "Odalisque and slave", "Madonna in front of the chalice with communion" and others.
Final Parisian period
In 1841, Ingres decides to return to his homeland. In Paris, colleagues arrange a pompous meeting for him - with an orchestra and a gala dinner. The artist receives full, perfect recognition of his talent.
In 1849, the master was crippled by the death of his beloved wife. Due to great grief, he did not create a single painting that year, although he remained a hard-working and active figure until the end of his life. In 1867, at the age of 87, he worked on a new painting, Christ at the Tomb, but never finished it, dying from a severe cold on January 14. The great artist was buried at the Pere Lachaise cemetery.
The memory of the master
In 1869, the Ingres Museum was created in his hometown of Montauban. In total, there are 584 works by the author, according to the catalog of the Paris School of Arts. Today, many of his works are kept in various museums around the world.
The name Ingres is closely associated with the perfection of the forms and compositions of female portraits. His special talent was not to exaggerate the beauty of a woman in a picture, but to find in it and convey that unique charm that is present in every woman. His portraits "Baroness Rothschild", "Countess d" Haussonville "," Madame Gonz "and many others personify his highest level of skill, which influenced future generations of artists.
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
“The simpler the lines and shapes,” Ingres said, “the more beauty and strength. Every time you dissect forms, you weaken them... When studying nature, pay attention first of all to the whole. Ask him and only him. Details are pompous little things that need to be reasoned with.”
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres was born on August 29, 1780 in Montabana. His father, miniaturist and sculptor Joseph Ingres, became his son's first teacher. At the age of eleven, Dominic entered the Royal Academy of Toulouse, where he studied until 1797. His painting teacher was J. Roca.
At the end of the academy, he becomes a student of J.-L. David in Paris. Serious, obsessed with work, Ingres keeps to himself, not taking part in student undertakings and meetings. His drawings and field studies speak of a strong hand and a precise eye. Since 1799, Ingres has been studying at the School of Fine Arts, where in 1801 Dominic received the Grand Prize of Rome for the painting "Achilles receives the envoys of Agamemnon."
"Achilles" not by chance caused the greatest praise of the famous English sculptor and draftsman Flaxman, who called this picture the most significant event in French art of that time. Flaxman exaggerated his assessment, but he noticed in Ingres's painting a subtle and lively, slightly pretentious elegance, characteristic of English classicism of the early 19th century, which did not fit into the stereotyped rules of the academic school.
Dominic received the right to study in Rome, but due to lack of government funding, he remains in France. At this time, Ingres makes a living with portraits, among which should be noted: "Self-portrait" (1804), three portraits of the River family (1805), a portrait of a friend Gilibert (1805), "Emperor Napoleon on the Throne" (1806).
Drawing dominates here over color; everything is built in a clean and absolutely true line. Paints only highlight the drawing and, with their subtle and soft combinations, only set off the sharpness and completeness of the linear contour.
The works of Ingres, exhibited at the Salon of 1806, were noticed, critics reproached the author for imitating Jan van Eyck in "Gothic". He was also accused of violating academic rules, which were considered unshakable. Indeed, Ingres conveyed the exquisite simplicity of the costume in every detail, calmly showed, without any idealization, the individual features of the faces, the naturalness and simplicity of the poses.
In 1806, Ingres finally travels to Italy. Until 1820 he lives in Rome, and then until 1824 in Florence. The artist worked hard and hard in Italy, sending paintings from time to time to Paris for exhibition at the Salon. He painted a lot from antique statues and from paintings by old Italian masters. He sought to renew classical art and attached the greatest importance to tradition, the lessons of the great artists of the past, primarily Raphael.
During the years of his stay in Italy, Ingres painted a number of beautiful portraits - Madame Devose (1807), Marcotte, who later became his closest friend (1810), the architect Dedeban (1810), Madame de Sennon (1814), a charming, delicate and delicate portrait of Jeanne Gonin ( 1821).
T. Sedova says:
“In 1807, Charles Aquier, the French envoy to the papal court in Rome, commissioned this portrait from a young French artist who had recently arrived in the “eternal city”. And after forty years, a poorly dressed woman, hardly recognized by him, came to the Parisian studio of the same artist who became famous. In desperation, she confessed her extreme need and asked to help her in the sale of both expensive and memorable portrait. What a human drama, how many ruined hopes, trampled feelings, and maybe other sufferings unknown to us are hidden behind these two meager facts, it is difficult to judge ...
The portrait has firmly become one of the masterpieces of world portraiture. As we can see, a very young, beautiful and happy woman posed for the artist.
The color scheme of the portrait is made up of large planes of black and brown, contrasting with red and golden yellow. The last tones are so intense that they make even the cold black color sound in an unusual tone for it.
The bright beauty of the model, her restrained sparkling temperament make it possible to assume that we are facing a true Italian. With all available means, the artist emphasizes the alluring femininity of Madame Devose.
Ingres's drawing is especially refined in his paintings with a naked human body: "Oedipus and the Sphinx" (1808), "Bather" (1807), "Great Odalisque" (1814), "Ruggiero Frees Angelica" (1819). Here his line becomes fluid and flexible; a smooth, calm contour runs around the clear silhouette of a figure, gently modeled with meanest, thinnest shadows.
“But often this easy modeling of volume seems superfluous to Ingres,” writes A.D. Chegodaev. – Many of his masterpieces of the Italian period are simple lead pencil drawings, where there are almost no shadows anymore and the expressiveness of a clean line reaches the utmost skill. These are his portraits of Mrs. Detouches, the famous violinist Paganini, the Stamati family, Leblanc. But this exquisite, cold purity of the drawing does not interfere with the accurate and calm characterization of the depicted people. In Leblanc's portrait, for example, the dandy appearance and lively, careless pose are perfectly captured, conveyed in just a few strokes of a pencil. But the historical paintings of these years turned out to be far-fetched, cold and boring, and sometimes full of mannered theatricality.
Ingres revealed all the best aspects of his art already in the first period of creativity, until 1824. And his best creations will remain simple portraits or individual nude figures, where he most fully embodies his serene, calm art, pleasing with a clear musical rhythm that permeates nature and man.
However, Ingres considered the creation of large compositions on historical and religious themes to be the main business of his life. It was in them that he sought to express his aesthetic views and ideals, it was with them that he connected the hope of fame and recognition. The huge canvas The Vow of Louis XIII, exhibited at the Salon of 1824, gives the impression of an internally cold, far-fetched composition.
“The idea underlying it was false: in terms of subject matter, this work corresponded to the views of the most reactionary circles of society that restored the Bourbons,” notes V.V. Starodubova. “They weren’t slow to bring such extraordinary talent to their side. Ingres fulfills a number of official orders, creates huge multi-figured compositions, gives these works years of long, exhausting work, and the results are negligible - things turn out to be dry and inexpressive. Such is the "Apotheosis of Homer", "St. Symphorion". This was the tragedy of the artist, who every time he began to paint a new portrait, looked at him as an annoying hindrance, tearing him away from large paintings.
But Ingres was wrong, believing that it was these paintings that would bring him immortality ... "
Ingres receives more and more honors: in 1825 he was elected a member of the French Institute, in 1829 he was appointed professor at the School of Fine Arts (in 1853 he became its director). But if before 1824 supporters of the decrepit academic art attacked Ingres, now he is sharply criticized by young romantic artists. Their criticism is fair, but it upsets and revolts Ingres. He reacted especially painfully to the hostile assessment that was met with “The Torment of St. Symphoriana" (1834). He even decided to leave Paris and again went to Italy for several years, where from 1835 to 1841 he was director of the French Academy in Rome at the Villa Medici.
Ingres did not seem to notice how he contradicted himself when he created, simultaneously with his motionless, dispassionate academic canvases, such masterpieces of the sharpest observation or genuine poetic grace as the famous portrait “Portrait of Bourtin” (1832). “In the handsome appearance of the gray-haired gentleman, in his smart strong-willed face, powerful figure, in the imperious gesture of the hands, in the tenacious fingers, one feels energy, invincible pressure, business acumen, turning the head of the Deba magazine into a symbol of a new era” (V.V. Starodubova ).
On his return to Paris, Ingres was commissioned in 1843 by the Duke de Ligne to paint a painting at the Château de Dampierre. Here the artist worked until 1847, but the work remained unfinished, because the nudes in the interpretation of Ingres, according to the concepts of the then society, offended the sense of decency. Meanwhile, nude figures have always occupied a very important place in the work of Ingres, who achieved perfection in their depiction.
In later years, it was the image of the naked body that glorified his best works - the famous "Source" (1856) and "Turkish Bath" (1859-1869).
At the same time, he confirms his fame as one of the great masters of the portrait, creating "Countess Haussonville" (1845), "Baroness Rothschild" (1848), "Madame Gonz" (1845-1852), "Madame Moitessier" (1851), " Madame Moitessier" (1856). His self-portrait of 1858 is stern, straightforward and sharp, full of will and energy. Although Ingres was burdened by the fact that he had to paint a lot of custom-made portraits, spending his skill on carefully writing out spectacular dresses.
Although, like no one else, he knows how to turn a household detail into a magnificent still life, perfectly conveys the materiality, texture, picturesque beauty of a wide variety of fabrics and materials. In his portraits, along with a convincing individuality, characterization emerges; his portraits are a portrait of an era.
Ingres died on January 14, 1867 in Paris. In the cold winter, the artist went out with his head uncovered to see the woman who posed for him to the carriage, fell seriously ill - and soon he died.
Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres. Biography and pictures.
Ingres Jean Auguste Dominique (Ingres Jean) (1780-1867), French painter and draftsman.
From 1796 he studied with Jacques Louis David in Paris. in 1806-1824 he worked in Italy, where he studied the art of the Renaissance and especially the work of Raphael; in 1834-1841 he was director of the French Academy in Rome.
Ingres painted on literary, mythological, historical subjects.
(“Jupiter and Thetis”, 1811, Granet Museum, Aix-en-Provence;
“Vow of Louis XIII”, 1824, Cathedral in Montauban;
“The Apotheosis of Homer”, 1827, Louvre, Paris), portraits that are distinguished by the accuracy of observations and the utmost truthfulness of psychological characteristics
portrait of L.F. Bertin, 1832, Louvre, Paris,
idealized and at the same time full of a keen sense of the real beauty of the nude
"Bather Volpenson", 1808,
"Great odalisque", 1814,
Both are in the Louvre, Paris.
Ingres's works, especially early ones, are marked by classical harmony of composition, a subtle sense of color, the harmony of a clear, light color, but the main role in his work was played by a flexible, plastically expressive linear drawing. Ingres is the author of brilliant pencil portraits and natural studies (most of them are in the Ingres Museum in Montauban).
Ingres himself considered himself a historical painter, a follower of David. However, in his programmatic mythological and historical compositions, Ingres deviated from the requirements of the teacher, introducing more lively observations of nature, religious feelings, expanding the subject matter, turning, in particular, like the romantics, to the era of antiquity and the Middle Ages (“Vow of Louis XIII”, 1824, Montauban Cathedral , “The Apotheosis of Homer”, 1827, Paris, Louvre).
If Ingres' historical painting seems traditional, then his magnificent portraits and sketches from nature are a valuable part of the French artistic culture of the 19th century.
One of the first Ingres was able to feel and convey not only the peculiar appearance of many people of that time, but also the traits of their characters - selfish calculation, callousness, prosaic personality in some, and kindness and spirituality in others.
Chased form, impeccable drawing, beauty of silhouettes determine the style of Ingres' portraits. Accuracy of observation allows the artist to convey the manner of holding and the specific gesture of each person.
portrait of Philibert Riviera, 1805;
portrait of Madame Riviere, 1805,
both paintings - Paris, Louvre;
Madame Devose, 1807, Chantilly, Condé Museum).
Ingres himself did not consider the portrait genre worthy of a real artist, although it was in the field of portrait that he created his most significant works. With careful observation of nature and admiration for its perfect forms, the artist’s luck is associated with the creation of a number of poetic female images in the paintings “Great Odalisque” (1814, Paris, Louvre),
"Source" (1820-1856, Paris, Louvre);
in the last painting, Ingres sought to embody the ideal of "eternal beauty".
Having finished this work begun in his early years in old age, Ingres confirmed his loyalty to youthful aspirations and his preserved sense of beauty. If for Ingres the appeal to antiquity consisted primarily of admiration for the ideal perfection of strength and the purity of the images of high Greek classics, then numerous representatives of official art who considered themselves his followers flooded the Salons (exhibition halls) with “odalisques” and “frips”, using antiquity only as a pretext for images of a naked female body.
The later work of Ingres, with the cold abstraction of images characteristic of this period, had a significant impact on the development of academicism in French art of the 19th century.
Ambassadors of Agamemnon in the tent of Achilles, 1801, Louvre, Paris
Self-portrait 1804
Portrait of Bonaparte 1804
Portrait of Philibert's Daughter Rivière 1805
Ingres. Napoleon on the imperial throne. 1806
Venus Anadyomene 1808-1848
Romulus - Conqueror of Akron 1812
. Dream of Ossian 1813.
Ingres. Joseph Woodhead with his wife and brother-in-law. 1816
Leonardo dying in the arms of Francis I 1818
Ingres. Niccolo Paganini. 1819 graphite
Roger freeing Angelique, 1819.
Christ delivering St. Peter the Keys to Paradise (1820)
Portrait of Madame Leblanc 1823.
Oedipus and the Sphinx 1827, Louvre, Paris
Ingres. Odalisque and slave. 1840
Ingres. Tsarevich Antiochus and Stratonika. 1840
The Virgin of the Host". 1841.
Ingres. Vicomtesse d'Haussonville. 1845
"Jupiter and Antiope". 1851.
