1849, Régis François Gignoux, Landscape -- American University Museum (Washington)
From the museum label:
A native of Lyon, France, Régis François Gignoux immigrated to the United States in 1840 and settled in the New York area where he remained until he returned to Paris in 1869. In 1844 he acquired a studio at 51 West Tenth Street, a building which also housed the studios of noted Hudson River School artists Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Frederic Church (1826-1900), Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900), and John Frederick Kensett (1816-1862). Open and amiable, Gignoux made friends with these men and other prominent individuals affiliated with the National Academy of Design. He began exhibiting at the Academy in 1842, and in 1851, after seven years as an associate, was elected to full membership in this important institution. In the early 1860s he was elected president of the Brooklyn Art Association, a position which also signified his stature among fellow artists.
As a young man Gignoux studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (1797-1856), an artist known for his highly finished surfaces and his melodramatic interpretation of historical subjects. Gignoux's Landscape, with its dramatic waterfall and intense contrast between the bright blue sky and dark foliage reflects his tutor's training, but its style and subject matter easily found approval among his American peers.
William Wilson Corcoran gave this painting, part of his personal collection, to the newly established Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1869.
1849, Régis François Gignoux, Landscape -- American University Museum (Washington)
From the museum label:
A native of Lyon, France, Régis François Gignoux immigrated to the United States in 1840 and settled in the New York area where he remained until he returned to Paris in 1869. In 1844 he acquired a studio at 51 West Tenth Street, a building which also housed the studios of noted Hudson River School artists Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902), Frederic Church (1826-1900), Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823-1900), and John Frederick Kensett (1816-1862). Open and amiable, Gignoux made friends with these men and other prominent individuals affiliated with the National Academy of Design. He began exhibiting at the Academy in 1842, and in 1851, after seven years as an associate, was elected to full membership in this important institution. In the early 1860s he was elected president of the Brooklyn Art Association, a position which also signified his stature among fellow artists.
As a young man Gignoux studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (1797-1856), an artist known for his highly finished surfaces and his melodramatic interpretation of historical subjects. Gignoux's Landscape, with its dramatic waterfall and intense contrast between the bright blue sky and dark foliage reflects his tutor's training, but its style and subject matter easily found approval among his American peers.
William Wilson Corcoran gave this painting, part of his personal collection, to the newly established Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1869.