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Félix Ziem Biography
French Impressionist artist
born 1821 - died 1911
Ziem was Born February 26, 1821 in Beaune
(Cote d’Or, France). Died November 10, 1911
in Paris.
Félix Ziem is an artist of the
pre-impressionist generation who has a style
all his own. His view paintings of Venice
were very successful amongst the collectors
of the time and remain sought after icons of
19th century travel painting today. His
contemporaries; Théophile Gautier, Théodore
Rousseau and Chopin all held him in great
esteem. |
Originally an architect
student at the “Academie d’architecture” in
Dijon, Félix Ziem was excluded from a scholarship
there due to “disciplinary” problems. With
this excuse, he decided to leave for Rome,
on foot, exchanging sketches for food along
the way. Félix Ziem stopped in Marseille, giving a
few lessons to Monticelli. After a long stay
in Nice, he finally arrived in Rome. Ziem
was disappointed by the city, so he continued on to Naples and finally Venice.
There, his amazement and wonder at the
otherworldly city never ceased. Théophile
Gautier would say that every artist has an
ideal country, often far away from his own
and for Félix Ziem, that country was Venice. In
1845, he returned again to Venice
for a three year stay. He rented a
flat-bottom boat (a “topo”) that he transformed into his atelier. He
accumulated a multitude of sketches, drawing
evening festivals, the quiet of early
morning, and the historical monuments that
made up the city. Félix Ziem returned to Paris and successfully exhibited his
view paintings of Venice at the Salon of 1849.
At the suggestion of Decamps he also
travelled to Holland. The French Government
purchased several of Félix Ziem paintings of
Venice and many foreign collectors –
visitors to the Exposition Universelle –
took an interest in him.
Ziem also was a visitor to Barbizon where
Félix Ziem purchased the house that had once belonged
to the Barbizon school painter
Charles
Jacque. Close to other landscape artists of
his generation, he painted alongside
Daubigny in Jouarre and with Boudin in Le
Havre. The naturalist approach of the
Barbizon School influenced later
Félix Ziem paintings and he became a renowned and
successful artist. He won many
medals for Félix Ziem oil paintings and was created
Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1857,
ascending to an Officer in 1878.
Although he did not return to Venice after
1892, he continued to paint his
beloved city from the numerous studies Félix
Ziem had done before up until the end of his
life. |