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Jean-Ferdinand Chaigneau French
1830 - 1906
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The Return of the Herd
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| Oil on Canvas |
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38.5 x 51.5 inches, sight
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| Category: |
Paintings - Non-American |
| Origin: |
France |
| Era: |
19th Century |
AFA Issue or
Dealer Reference#: |
Summer 2005 |
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Jean-Ferdinand Chaigneau (French, 1830-1906), The Return of the Herd; Oil on canvas, 38-1/2 x 51-1/2 inches; Signed lower left: F. Chaigneau.
Jean-Ferdinand Chaigneau was born in the shipping center of Bordeaux, Where he studied drawing under the successful academic painter Jean-Paul Alaux. In 1847, he submitted a landscape painting Souvenir des Environ de Bordeaux, to the un-juried Salon (the Revolution of 1848 had suspended the normal Salon restrictions). In 1849, Chaigneau entered the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts, encouraged by Jacques Raymond Brascassat (1804-1867), a family friend and successful animal painter. He studied in the atelier of Francois Edouard Picot, one of the most traditional teachers at the Ecole, and took additional classes with Jules Coignet and Jacques Brascassat. It was from his studies with Bracassat that his desire to paint landscapes and animals developed. For the following ten years most of Chaigneau's art was in the academic tradition. In 1854 he was awarded an artistic stipend from his hometown of Bordeaux. Late on that same year, as a result of his failure at the Concours de Rome (winning only third place medal), he began to turn away from the academic training he had received and by 1858 he had moved to Barbizon, while also keeping a residence in Paris. While in Barbizon he came in contact with Jean Francois Millet (1814-1875), and other artists the living and working in Barbizon, like Rousseau (1812-1867), Corot (1796-1875), Dupre (1811-1889), Daubigny (1817-1878) and Charles-Emile Jacque alternative to academic art. Chaigneau began orienting his art toward nature; his lanscpe subjects also included scenes from Bordelais, Landes, Limousin, and Normandy in addition to scenes from the forest of Fontainebleau. Chaigneau's shepherding and harvesting subjects have echoes of Millet, Rousseau, and Jacque (his closet colleagues among the older generation of Barbizon artists). Jacque in particular, became a strong influence on Chaigneau, in the late 1860s; Chigneau developed his well-known fondess for painting flocks of sheep, which he had observed in the Chailly Valley region near Barbizon. His success in this genre earned him the affectionate nickname of 'le Raphael des moutons', (the Raphael of sheep). Jacque also introduced him to the art of etching. Chaigneau created his first published etchings in 1864. And like Jacque; Chaigneau dedicated himself to the study of animals and landscapes in both his painting and etched works of art, but he always maintained his individuality by careful, often intricate composition and distinctive, bright range of colors that reflect the higher-key palette made popular by his Impressionist contemporaries. At the Salon, he frequently presented very large-scale decorative paintings of harvesting of shepherding scenes, winning awards in 1855, 1889 and 1900. In 1889 he exhibited a number of works at the Exposition -- Universelle where he received a bronze medal. He also exhibited at the International Exposition held at Santaigo, Chile in 1875; the World's Colombian Exposition, Chicago, 1893; Barcelona, Spain, in 1880 and 1888, the Societe des Amis des Arts, Bordeaux, from 1851-1903, and between 1868 to 1881 he exhibited in London. Chaigneau's ability at the figure drawing and pictorial composition infused his Barbizon and Fontainebleau scenes his own distinctive originality which was recognizable. As a result of his long association with the village of Barbizon (where he maintained a home for 50 years), as well as his desire to make Barbizon art better known internationally in 1882, with Charles Jacque, Chaigneau founded the ' Societe des artistes animaliers'. This distinguished Chaigneau as the principal representative of Barbizon art during the last quarter of the nineteenth-century. Chaigneau's skill as a draughtsman had brought him into the Societe des Aquafortistes, the new organization of etchers assembled by the printer/dealer Alfred Cadart in 1862; and he built a successful second career as a printmaker. Chaigneau's work was introduced to American audiences through the exhibitions of etchings and paintings assembled by Cadart which travel to a New York dealer in modern paintings and prints, Knoedler promoted Chaigneau's work in America. Throughout his career Chaigneau worked closely with dealers such as Cadart, Georges Petit, and Samuel P. Avery who led the international recognition of Barbizon art around the world. A retrospective exhibition of Chaigneau's work was organized in the spring of 1906 in Paris. Chaigneau died in Barbizon at age 76, on October 22, 1906. Examples of his work can be found in museums in; Musee d'Orsay, Paris; The Louvre, Paris; Musee de Picardie, France; Musee Municipal de l'Ecole de Barbizon, France; Musee de Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux, France; Musee de Beaux-Arts, Rennes, France.
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