Constant Troyon (French, 1810 to 1865)
Constant Troyon was born in Sevres and began his career as a painter of porcelain, following family tradition. By the 1830s he had abandoned this path for a life as a landscape painter, making his debut at the Salon of 1833. Troyon became one of the central artists of the Barbizon school. By 1840 he was painting with Theodore Rousseau and Jules Dupre, and in 1844 he submitted two views of Fontainebleau to the Salon. Troyon enjoyed great success as a painter, winning acceptance into many expositions in France and abroad. In 1847 Troyon made a seminal trip to Holland, which would change the course of his art. Inspired by the Dutch artists, Troyon refocused his work on animals painted in the natural landscape, and he earned renown as an animalier. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1849. He lived mostly in Normandy and Paris, except for short trips to England and the Low Countries. The painting Le Canal is also described as La Petite Ecluse. Constant Troyon died unexpectedly in 1865, and the Salon of 1866 paid tribute to his career.
Information courtesy of Skinner Inc. May, 2010.
A member of the Barbizon School, Constant Troyon was originally trained as a porcelain painter at the Sevres factory where his father worked. Troyon’s first lessons in drawing and painting were from porcelain painters who worked with his father, Denis-Desire Riocreux (who helped found the Musee National de Ceramique) and Antoine-Achille Poupart.1 Through his friend, Camille Roqueplan, Troyon met the landscape painters Theodore Rousseau, Paul Huet, and Jules Dupres who would later become fellow members of the Barbizon School.
Troyon took an interest in 17th century Dutch landscape painting, especially the work of Jacob van Ruisdael, whose influence can be seen in many of his paintings.2 In 1847, he traveled to Belgium and the Netherlands where he discovered the work of Paulus Potter and Aelbert Cuyp. In 1849 he became Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur and his work shifted from landscapes to scenes with animals and sometimes, laborers, in a dramatic natural setting.3 Troyon’s works are marked by his sensitivity to the variations of light which foreshadow the later Impressionist movement.
1. www.wallacecollection.com
2. www.oxfordartonline.com
3.www.Getty.edu
Information courtesy of Skinner Inc. November, 2008.