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Antoine Chintreuil
(1814-1873)
Antoine Chintreuil was born in Bourg en
Bresse. In 1838, he left to go and live in Paris. He
entered the studio of the romantic and history painter
Paul Delaroche in 1842. He was not to stay with Paul
Delaroche though, as his true teacher was to be Jean
Baptiste Camille Corot. Corot was to have an enormous
influence on him. In fact, Chintreuil referred to
himself throughout his whole life as Corot's pupil.
Corot introduced him to the technique of painting in
‘plein air,’ and thereafter Chintreuil began to paint
outside in nature.
He did not immediately achieve success, and was rejected
a number of times by the Salon before his first painting
was accepted in 1847. He was given a great deal of
support in the early days of his career by the
songwriter Pierre-Jean de Beranger, and the art critic
Champfleury. Pierre-Jean de Beranger bought a number of
his paintings, and also persuaded the French state to
buy some of them.
Les Bois Ensoleille
In 1850,
Chintreuil joined a small community of landscape
painters at Igny in the Bievre valley, southwest of
Paris. It was here that he became good friends with the
landscape painter Charles Daubigny. Soon afterwards, he
moved to the village of Septeuil, near the town of
Mantes. It was here that he produced magnificent
paintings such as, ‘Last Rays of Sun on a Field of
Sainfoin.’
It is said that Chintreuil's paintings were the
precursor to Impressionism. He was very concerned with
the effect of the light and also atmospheric differences
during different times of the day. He was not interested
in portraying a picturesque version of nature, but more
so with portraying it as it really was. His mentor and
great teacher Corot said, ‘We must never forget to
envelop reality in the atmosphere it first had when it
burst upon our view. Whatever the size, whatever the
object, the artist must first submit to his first
impression.’
Chintreuil was certainly influenced by the words of
Corot. The titles of his paintings alone give a clue to
his interests in different atmospheric conditions, such
as, ‘Morning Fog,’ and ‘The Evening Haze.’ His friend
and art critic Champfleury referred to him as the
painter of, ‘the fog and dewdrops.’
The painting, ‘House on the Cliffs near Fecamp,’ is a
perfect example of Chintreuil's style of painting. The
modest subject matter of the painting and the sensitive
treatment of the light are typical of his work.
Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet were greatly
influenced by the work of artists such as Antoine
Chintreuil. The painting, ‘Last Rays of Sun on a Field
of Sanfoin,’ which hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston is a good example of a painting that came very
close to the Impressionist style. It shows the
countryside with peasants and the dazzling light effects
as its focus. The Sanfoin which is a pink herb used to
feed the animals has its own light and focus. It is as a
consequence of paintings such as these that his work has
been defined as a precursor to Impressionism.
Begere Reposent
Landscape
Chintreuil is a very
important nineteenth century artist, not only because of
his talent, but also because of his anticipation of what
was to come, in terms of the future of art and painting.
In the Salon of 1870, upon seeing his work, the French
writer Emile Zola said,
"One senses an
artist who is striving to go beyond the Naturalistic
school of landscape painting and who,
although faithfully copying nature, attempted to catch
her at a special moment difficult to transcribe."
