Félix-Joseph Barrias (13 September 1822 – 24 January 1907) was a French painter.
He was well known in his day for his paintings of religious, historical or mythical subjects, but has now been largely forgotten.
Artists who trained in his studio and went on to achieve fame include
Edgar Degas,
Gustave Achille Guillaumet and
Henri Pille.
Early years
Félix-Joseph Barrias was born on 13 September 1822 in Paris.[1]
His brother was
Louis-Ernest Barrias (1841–1905), who became a well-known sculptor.[2]
His father was a painter on porcelain, and taught Félix-Joseph Barrias, who proved to be an adept pupil and was able to earn his own living by the age of 16.[3]
Félix-Joseph Barrias then studied under
Léon Cogniet. He won the
Prix de Rome in 1844 with his picture of Cincinnatus Receiving the Deputies of the Senate.
This let him travel to Italy for further studies.[3]
In 1847 he exhibited at the
Salon for the first time with his Young Girl Carrying Flowers and Roman Spinner.[4]
Barrias received a third class medal in 1847 and a second class medal in 1851 for his The Exiles of Tiberius (Louvre).[5] At the
Exposition Universelle (1855) he received a second class medal for his painting Jubilee Year of 1300 in Rome.[6][5]
A large painting by Barrias was exhibited at the
1862 International Exhibition in
London, depicting the French army landing in the
Crimea.[8]
In 1868 Barrias painted The Legend of the Golden Fleece on the ceiling of
Drapers' Hall, London.
Barrias created mural works for the
Paris Opera of
Charles Garnier, and in the 1880s painted a decoration for the
Mercers' Hall in London.[9]
Barrias exhibited portraits at the Salons of 1879, 1880 and 1881. He made lithograph illustrations for Didot's editions of
Virgil and
Horace.[4]
According to a contemporary critic, his art "is worthy of an artist who is always distinguished by a severe execution, a happy imagination, and a graceful conception of the whole effect. A painter of style, Felix Barrias has neither the solemnity nor the coldness of those who usually claim this title; very careful of the dignity of his art in these times of easy painting, he has never made a compromise with the taste of the day, and for this reason, in every essay on decorative art his name is written in advance.[18]
However, his paintings have not stood the test of time, and he is now largely forgotten.[19]
Selected works
Anointing of David by Samuel (1842) – Petit Palais, Paris
Cincinnatus Receiving the Deputies of the Senate (1844)
Sappho d'Ereze (1845) A photograph was published in A. Cipollini's 1890 Saffo, but the original has been lost.[20]
Young Girl Carrying Flowers (1847)
A Gaul and His Daughter Imprisoned in Rome (1847)
Roman Spinner (1847)
The Exiles of Tiberius (1850) – purchased for the Gallery of the Luxembourg
Michel Angelo in the Sistine Chapel (1857)
Easter Communion (1861)
Picardy (1863) – allegorical picture for the grand stairway of the Museum of Amiens
The Repose (1866)
Electra at the Tomb of her Father (1875)
L'Homme est en mer! (1875) - subject from
Victor Hugo
Grunchec, P. (1985). The Grand Prix de Rome: Paintings from the École des Beaux-Arts, 1797–1863. Washington, DC: International Exhibitions Foundation.
ISBN0883970759.