Thread by @RobertBohan

Thread: Thomas Couture (1815-79) was a French history painter & teacher. He was born on this day. Although mainly known to experts in art history, his work has charm. One of his greatest works is in the National Gallery of Ireland: The Realist Painter (1865)

He was born in Oise, but moved to Paris where he studied art at an industrial school before moving to the École des Beaux-Arts. He won the Prix de Rome, after 6 goes, in 1837. A Widow (1840), Horace & Lydia (1843), Jules Michelet (1843) & Reverie (1840-1)

I’ve got a dodgy immune system so was delighted to get a booster shot last week so I decided to have a celebratory offer for UK & Ireland. When you buy an original ink drawing you can choose two more free!

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There is a sense of overwrought emotion in a lot of his work. Portrait of a Man (1841), Return from the Fields (1841) & Miss Florentin (1844). You can clearly see that his work inspired Manet with his use of strong plains of light & shade.

Couture exhibited at the Salon from 1840. He was a critical success with his Romans during the Decadence (1847) cited as his early masterpiece. Romans (1844-7) & Little Bather (1849). The latter would have appealed to a sense of innocence at the time when sentimentalism prevailed

Anselm Feuerbach (1852), The Falconer (1855) & The Realist (1865). Feuerbach was a dashing Romantic artist who resembled Couture in painting relatively minor works. Unlike Couture, however, he was not influential or original in his technique.

Portrait of a Lady (1852), Antoine Etex (1845-55), Pierrot (c1855) & The Duel after the Masked Ball (1857). From accounts of his life Couture could be quite difficult & there’s an element of that in how he saw other people.

Many of his images combine 18th century motifs with 19th C Romantic painting. Harlequin & Pierrot (c1857), Timon of Athens (1857) & The Young Drummer (c1857). At the time artists thought that old masters painted in brown tones & this influenced his colour choices.

Soap Bubbles (c1859), Damocles (1866) & The Thorny Path (1873). Some of his subject matter resembles Millais. It is, however, in his free handling of paint & relaxed style that he would evolve art; providing advances that led to Impressionism.

Musician (1877), The Artist’s Daughter (1878) & Portrait of a Girl (nd). His Musician is also in @NGIreland When you see such technical ability it’s sad to see that he was so cerebral that he could not just allow an authentic emotion to be portrayed in his work.

Couture was trained within the Academic tradition so drew many Academies, which were studies of the nude form. Here the point is description rather than some long lost intellectual idea & as a result the works are true to nature, authentic & beautiful.

In order to challenge the now stale Academic method he set up his own teaching studio. He was awarded a number of Church & State commissions but they met with negativity so he left Paris. He then wrote a book on his own art methods (1879) Young Italian Girl (1877)

Couture died in 1879, aged 63. Significant parts of his legacy were the many students he taught. These included Manet, Fantin-Latour & Puvis de Chavannes. Of these, he influenced Puvis de Chavannes most. The Little Confectioner (c1878)

Here’s more on my special offers! I ship my work worldwide from Ireland. Offer ends 4th January

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