Angèle - François Joseph Guiguet (1860-1937)

An oil on canvas measuring 46X38 cm representing Angèle, niece of the artist (1899-1981) signed top right "F.Guiguet 1905" by François Joseph Guiguet (1860-1937)We thank Madame Annie Humbert, universal legatee of Louis Guiguet, Nephew of the Painter François Joseph Guiguet, for confirming the authenticity of this work which is well listed in her archives.François Joseph Guiguet, French painter and lithographer born in Corbelin (Isère) on January 8, 1860 and died in the same town on September 3, 1937.Around 1876, one day while visiting, Doctor Gauthier, the family doctor, was surprised by the quality of his drawings. He then advised his parents to seek the advice of the painter Auguste Ravier (1814-1895) who lived in Morestel, a neighboring village. He immediately recognized Guiguet's work as a sure talent. For three years, he gave his disciple valuable advice: the use and utilization of the variety of drawing tools, respect for values, a sense of composition, the use and advantage of pastel, which Ravier rarely used, to obtain rapid and luminous notations, the practice of oil painting, etc. This teaching allowed Guiguet to arrive already trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon in 1879, on Ravier's recommendation. There, he was admitted to the studio of Michel Dumas (1812-1885), where the latter had been appointed professor the previous year. This former student of Ingres, with whom he had spent more than 16 years in Italy, was a faithful guardian of his master's artistic tradition. A specialist in religious subjects and large church wall decorations, he confirmed Guiguet's taste and the need for pure drawing, while teaching him how to organize the work of classical decorative painting. In 1882, Guiguet won the Prix de Paris, which allowed him to continue his studies at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in the capital with an annual allowance of 1,200 francs. Supported by Édouard Aynard, director of the Museum Administration Commission, and by Antonin Dubost, MP for Isère, Guiguet settled in Paris. He was admitted to the studio of Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889). He made his debut at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1885 with Le Retour du jeune Tobie. From 1889, he lived at 13, rue Ravignan, which would later become the Bateau-Lavoir, where he had his studio until 1905. This was also the time of his engagement to Juliette Dubois, daughter of a Parisian property dealer, whom he often portrayed during this period. François Guiguet became friends with Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Edgar Degas and Luigi Chialiva (1842-1914), who revealed to him the techniques of the old masters. Thanks to his encounters and support, and his friendship with Félix Thiollier, he forged a personality for himself. Between 1893 and 1910, Guiguet produced color lithographs, including publications in L'Estampe moderne (1897) and L'Estampe nouvelle (1905). In 1905, he left the Bateau-Lavoir for 21, rue de Navarin in Paris, where he enjoyed a larger studio that he kept until his death. In 1914, he returned to his birthplace in Corbelin and rented a room at 8, cours Lafayette in Lyon from his sister-in-law Émilie Champetier, widow of his brother Joanny. He worked mainly in the homes of his clients for portrait commissions or in the studio of the Lyon painter Léon Garraud. François Guiguet was highly regarded as a portraitist, who only completed his works after numerous preparatory studies and numerous sittings. In addition to commissioned portraits, he painted the lives of artisans (blacksmiths, carpenters, seamstresses, etc.) and, to a lesser extent, landscapes and still lifes. He found a source of inspiration in his birthplace. He died in 1937.