Alexandre Cabanel — a master of academic painting adored by the authorities and a great teacher of young artists

Alexandre Cabanel was an outstanding French artist of the second half of the 19th century, a bright representative of academicism, a master of portrait, historical and religious genres. The biography of Alexandre Cabanel is a magnificent example of the lifetime recognition of the merits of a talented painter by the public, authorities and critics. His paintings are filled with exquisite eroticism and grace, and the master’s work embodied the best canons of classical painting.

Alexandre Cabanel, along with William Bouguereau and Paul Baudry, is rightfully recognized as one of the most revered painters of France during the Second Empire. He also taught nudes at the Paris School of Fine Arts for many years and trained more than a hundred students.

Biography

Alexandre Cabanel was born in the city of Montpellier on September 28, 1823, in the family of a carpenter. From a young age, the boy was interested in drawing and at the age of thirteen he was accepted to study at the local school of fine arts, where his teacher was the portrait painter Charles Matet. After 4 years, Alexander received the right to receive a scholarship and immediately went to Paris.

In the capital, the future master of painting easily entered the Higher School of Fine Arts on the course of the master of the historical genre François-Édouard Picot. Three times (in 1843, 1844 and 1845) Alexandre Cabanel participated in the competition for the Grand Prize, but only on the third attempt was he able to succeed. The jury named his painting “The Mocking of Christ” as the winner of the prize, after which the artist left for Italy to continue his studies at the French Academy in Rome.

Cabanel lived in the Italian capital for the next 5 years, honing his own skills and studying the works of the great masters of painting of the past. During this time, he created about 20 paintings of the religious and portrait genres and developed his own style of painting.

Returning to Paris, in 1852, Alexandre Cabanel took part in the Salon for the first time, where his painting “The Death of Moses” was enthusiastically received by both critics and the public. For this work, the artist received a well-deserved medal, which became the first of many awards in the biography of the master.

At this time, the era of the Second Empire began in France, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ascended the throne, becoming the patron of the young artist for many years. The Emperor often bought Cabanel’s paintings, including the master’s most famous work, “The Birth of Venus, ” in 1863.

From the early 1850s until his death, Alexandre Cabanel basked in the rays of glory. He became a knight, officer, and later commander of the Legion of Honor, a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, and was a member of the jury of the Paris Salons for 20 years. In addition, Cabanel’s merits were recognized by awards from Belgium and Bavaria, and for his portrait of the Emperor in 1865, the artist was awarded the Honorary Salon Medal.

European and American celebrities willingly commissioned Alexandre Cabanel to paint their portraits, and during the restoration of the famous Pantheon in Paris, the artist was commissioned to create paintings for part of the interior of the famous architectural and historical monument. The master of painting also successfully taught, and regularly devoted one or two days a week to it. Among the graduates of his workshop are many famous personalities, including: Englishman Solomon Joseph Solomon; Portuguese José Júlio de Souza Pinto; Catalan Étienne Terrus and more than a hundred other painters of different styles and genres.

For many years, Cabanel remained an ardent supporter of academic painting. He ardently defended his views in disputes with adherents of realism and impressionism, and spoke negatively about any innovative initiatives in the visual arts. The fall of the Second Empire and the establishment of the Third Republic in France in 1870 did not affect the artist’s life in any way. He, as before, had enormous authority in society and was inundated with orders until the end of his life.

At the height of his fame and being a very wealthy man, Alexandre Cabanel died on January 23, 1889 in Paris at the age of 65. After a lavish farewell ceremony, the master’s body was transported to his homeland, Montpellier, where he was buried. Three years later, a monument by the architect Jean Camille Formigé and the sculptors Paul Dubois and Antonin Mercié was erected on the painter’s grave.