"Academy Of Man, Joseph Marie Vien (1716-1809)"
Joseph Marie Vien (1716 – 1809) Academy of Man This work is referenced in the catalogue raisonné page 133 and illustrated n° 19a Joseph Marie Vien, T Gaehtgens and J. Lugand with the assistance of the Paul Getty Trust, Arthena publisher The work: An undressed man lies on a rock covered with a large drape, a traveler's staff at his feet suggests a moment of reflection on existence, but the place recalls the plains of Tartarus, a place of exile in mythology. The gaze directed towards a gray horizon from where neither the sun nor nature brings life, only vision: cold and lifeless rocks, the man is alone and what fault has he committed? his gaze that the spectator guesses confronts this hostile nature, The painter depicts him stronger than the fate cast, he does not collapse, his will is whole, his musculature, his determination exalts human nature, he hopes for a light. Born in Montpellier in 1716, Joseph Marie Vien was not destined by his father for a career as a painter but thanks to an affirmed will and after having been noticed by the Count of Caylus and by the painter Charles Natoire, he went to Paris with letters of recommendation in 1740. A hard worker, he received a 2nd place in the drawing competition of 1741 then a 1st place in 1742 which allowed him to present a work for the Prix de Rome which he received in 1743. An honest painter, he refused to give in to a style of pleasant scenes very fashionable at the time, his entry to the Academy of Painting was prevented but thanks to the intervention of François Boucher (who put his resignation in the balance) he was admitted in 1754. His studio was filled with orders, in fact the rococo style was going out of fashion, Vien's painting characteristic of neoclassicism found favor with the public and in 1772 Madame Du Barry replaced Fragonard's paintings with that of François Xavier Vien in her castle of Louveciennes; 1st painter of the king, the king's buildings commissioned him a series of scenes after the antique now disappeared during the revolution. His studio trained a large number of painters including the most famous: Jacques Louis David is the great representative of neoclassicism of the early 19th century. He died in 1809, Napoleon offered him a state funeral, he is the only painter to rest in the Pantheon. His works are preserved in the museums of: Paris the Louvre, Petit Palais; Montpellier Fabre Museum, Reims, Lille, Amiens, Cleveland USA, Colombus USAdimensions without frame: 95 cm x 130 cmdimensions with frame: 122 cm x 151 cm