Ary Scheffer | |
|---|---|
 Self Portrait at the age of 43,c. 1838 | |
| Born | (1795-02-10)10 February 1795 Dordrecht, Netherlands |
| Died | 15 June 1858(1858-06-15) (aged 63) Argenteuil, France |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Romanticism |
Ary Scheffer (10 February 1795 – 15 June 1858) was a Dutch-FrenchRomantic painter.[1] He was known mostly for his works based on literature, with paintings based on the works ofDante,Goethe,Lord Byron andWalter Scott,[2] as well as religious subjects. He was also a prolific painter of portraits of famous and influential people in his lifetime. Politically, Scheffer had strong ties to KingLouis Philippe I, having been employed as a teacher of the latter's children, which allowed him to live a life of luxury for many years until theFrench Revolution of 1848.
Scheffer was the son ofJohan Bernard Scheffer (1765–1809), a portrait painter who was born inHomberg upon Ohm orCassel (both presently inGermany; the latter has been spelled as Kassel since 1926) and moved to theNetherlands in his youth, andCornelia Lamme (1769–1839), aportrait miniature painter and daughter of landscape painterArie Lamme ofDordrecht, for whom Arij (later "Ary") was named. Ary Scheffer had two brothers, the journalist and writer Karel Arnold Scheffer (1796–1853) and the painterHendrik Scheffer (1798–1862). His parents educated him and he attended the drawing academy inAmsterdam from the age of 11 years. In 1808 his father became the court painter ofLouis Bonaparte inAmsterdam, yet his father died one year later. Encouraged byWillem Bilderdijk, Ary moved toLille,France, for further study after the death of his father.
In 1811, he and his mother, who greatly influenced his career, moved toParis,France, where he studied at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts as a pupil ofPierre-Narcisse Guérin. His brothers later followed them toParis.[3]
Scheffer started exhibiting at theSalon de Paris in 1812. He began to be recognized in 1817, and in 1819 he was asked to make a portrait of theMarquis de Lafayette. Perhaps because of Lafayette's acquaintances, Scheffer and his brothers were politically active throughout their lives and he became a prominentPhilhellene.[3]
In 1822, he became drawing teacher to the children ofLouis Philippe I, theDuke of Orléans. Because of his connection with them, he obtained many commissions for portraiture and other work. In 1830 riots against the rule of KingCharles X resulted inhis overthrow. On 30 July, Scheffer and influential journalistAdolphe Thiers rode fromParis toOrléans to askLouis Philippe I to lead the resistance, and a few days later he became "King of the French".[3]
That same year, Scheffer's daughterCornélia was born. Francès Cornélia Scheffer (1830–1899) became a sculptor and painter in her own right.[4] Ary Scheffer registered the name of her mother as "Maria Johanna de Nes", but nothing is known of her and she may have died soon after Cornélia's birth. Considering that his grandmother's name was "Johanna de Nes", it has been speculated that he kept the name of Cornélia's mother secret so as not to compromise the reputation of a noble family. Ary Scheffer's mother did not know of her namesake granddaughter until 1837, after which she cared for Cornélia until she died only two years later.[3]
Ary Scheffer became an associate member of theRoyal Institute of the Netherlands in 1846, and resigned in 1851.[5]
Scheffer and his family prospered during the reign ofLouis Philippe I, who abdicated on 24 February 1848. Scheffer and Hendrik were inundated with artistic commissions, and they taught numerous students in their workshop inParis, so many that of the works produced during this period that bear his signature the number that he actually made himself cannot be verified.[3]
Scheffer was elevated as commander of theLegion of Honour in 1848. As a captain of theGarde Nationale, he escorted the French royal family in its escape from theTuileries and escorted theDuchess d'Orléans to theChambre des Députés, where she in vain proposed her son as the next monarch ofFrance. Scheffer fought in the army ofCavaignac during theJune Days Uprising inParis of 23 to 26 June 1848. The cruelty and hatred that the governmental faction exhibited and the misery of the lower classes so shocked him that he withdrew from politics and refused to make portraits of the family ofNapoléon III, who reigned after the Uprising.
On 16 March 1850, he married Sophie Marin, the widow of GeneralBaudrand, and on 6 November of that year he finally became a French citizen.
He continued to frequently travel to the Netherlands, and traveled toBelgium,Germany, andEngland, but a heart condition impaired his activity and eventually caused his death in 1858 in his summer house inArgenteuil.[3] He is buried in theCimetière de Montmartre.
When Scheffer left Guérin's studio,Romanticism had come into vogue in France, with such painters asXavier Sigalon,Eugène Delacroix andThéodore Géricault. Scheffer did not show much affinity with their work and developed his own style, which has been called "frigidly classical".[6]
Scheffer often painted subjects from literature, especially the works ofDante,Byron andGoethe. Two versions ofDante and Beatrice have been preserved atWolverhampton Art Gallery, United Kingdom,[7] andMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston, US.[8] HisL'Enterrement du Jeune Pêcheur, illustrating a scene from Walter Scott'sThe Antiquary and taking inspiration fromDavid Wilkie'sDistraining for Rent, was exhibited at theSalon of 1824.[2] Particularly highly praised was hisFrancesca da Rimini, painted in 1836, which illustrates a scene fromDante Alighieri'sInferno. In the piece the entwined bodies of Francesca di Rimini and Paolo Malatesta swirl around in the never-ending tempest that is the second circle of Hell. The illusion of movement is created by the drapery that envelopes the couple, as well as by Francesca's flowing hair. These two figures create a diagonal line that intersects the majority of the canvas creating not only a sense of movement, but also giving the painting an air of instability.[original research?] Francesca clings to Paolo as he turns his face away in anguish. There are an additional two figures in the image: hidden in the background, the poets Dante andVirgil look on as they make their way through the nine circles of Hell.
Scheffer's popularFaust-themed paintings includeMargaret at her wheel;Faust doubting;Margaret at the Sabbat;Margaret leaving church;The garden walk, andMargaret at the well. In 1836, he painted two pictures of Goethe's characterMignon:Mignon desires her fatherland (1836), andMignon yearns for heaven (1851).[9]
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He now turned to religious subjects:Christus Consolator (1836) was followed byChristus Remunerator,The shepherds led by the star (1837),The Magi laying down their crowns,Christ in the Garden of Olives,Christ bearing his Cross,Christ interred (1845), andSt Augustine and Monica (1846).
One of the reduced versions of hisChristus Consolator (theprime version today to be found in theVan Gogh Museum, Amsterdam), lost for 70 years, was rediscovered in a janitor's closet in Gethsemane Lutheran Church inDassel, Minnesota, in 2007. It has been restored and is on display at theMinneapolis Institute of Art.[10]
Scheffer was also an accomplished portrait painter, finishing 500 portraits in total. His subjects included composersFrédéric Chopin andFranz Liszt, theMarquis de la Fayette,Pierre-Jean de Béranger,Alphonse de Lamartine,Charles Dickens,Duchess de Broglie,[11]Talleyrand[11] andQueen Marie Amélie.
After 1846, he ceased to exhibit. His strong ties with the royal family caused him to fall out of favour when, in 1848, theSecond Republic came into being. Scheffer was made commander of the Legion of Honour in 1848, that is, after he had wholly withdrawn from the Salon. Shut up in his studio, he produced many paintings that were only exhibited after his death in 1858.[12]
The works, first exhibited posthumously, includeSorrows of the earth, and theAngel announcing the Resurrection, which he had left unfinished. By the time of his death, his reputation was damaged and was further undermined by the sale of the Paturle Gallery, which contained many of his most celebrated achievements: though his paintings were praised for their charm and facility, they were condemned for poor use of color and vapid sentiment.[12]
At various timesMaurice Sand, Scheffer,Charles Gounod,Hector Berlioz were in relationships withPauline Viardot—in letters they claimed that they were in love with her.[13] She wrote in one letter:
Louis and Scheffer (Scheffer was the best friend ofLouis Viardot, husband of Pauline Viardot)has always been my dearest of friends, and it is sad, that I was never able to respond to the hot and deep love of Louis, despite all my volition.[14]
She was married to Louis Viardot at 18 years old, when her husband was a director of an Italian opera house in Paris and a friend of Scheffer. Scheffer was a confidant of Pauline Viardot and a friend of her family until his death.[14][15]
In 1850 Scheffer became a French citizen and married Sophie Marin, the widow of General Marie Étienne François Henri Baudrand. Marin died in 1856.[16]
His younger brotherHendrik Scheffer, born inThe Hague on 27 September 1798, was also a painter.[17]
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Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Scheffer, Ary".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 316.
Bryan, Michael (1889)."Scheffer, Hendrik". In Armstrong, Sir Walter; Graves, Robert Edmund (eds.).Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (L–Z). Vol. II (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.
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