Théophile Hamel | |
---|---|
Born |
Sainte-Foy,
Quebec, Canada | 8 November 1817
Died | 23 December 1870
Quebec City,
Quebec, Canada | (aged 53)
Known for | Painter |
Théophile-Abraham Hamel (8 November 1817 – 23 December 1870) was a Canadian artist who painted mainly portraits and religious images in 19th-century Quebec. [1]
Hamel was born in 1817 in Sainte-Foy (then a suburb of Quebec City), the son of a successful farmer. Hamel's paternal ancestry can be traced to French immigrant Jean Hamel, who arrived in New France from Avremesnil ( Normandy) in 1656. In 1834 Théophile was already taking art lessons from Antoine Plamondon. For a while he attended the Accademia di San Luca, in Rome. He was very much interested in the works of the Romantics. [2]
His early portraits show a mixture of European romanticism and Canadian simplicity. His style gradually changed to match the taste of his clients for simple, honest, even prim portraits. [3]
In 1838 he painted 'Three Indian Chiefs Leading a Delegation to Quebec. In 1843, Hamel travelled to Europe (London, Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice, and then north to France and Belgium). [4] In 1846 he returned to Canada to Quebec. Throughout his career he travelled throughout Canada East and Canada West, painting portraits of such notables as Sir John Beverley Robinson, Denis-Benjamin Viger, Sir Allan MacNab, Louis-Joseph Papineau, John Sandfield Macdonald, and Sir Étienne Taché. He worked quickly, often completing a portrait in a single day. [5]
Hamel also painted religious pictures for various commissions, and a series of "imaginative" or "semi-imaginative" portraits of Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Jean Talon, Montcalm, and General James Murray. The image of Cartier even appeared on a banknote. [6] It is estimated that Hamel painted more than 2000 portraits during his lifetime. [7] In 1848, he painted portraits of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine. In 1850-1, he painted Egerton Ryerson. In 1853, he painted 'Madame Renaud and Her Daughters Wilhemine and Emma'. His painting 'L'Abbé Edouard Faucher', painted in 1855, now hangs at Eglise de Saint-Laurent, Lotbiniere. His painting of Sir Allan MacNab, painted in 1853, hangs in the House of Commons of Canada. [8]
In 1857, at age of 40, he married Mathilde-Georgiana Faribault, daughter of George-Barthélemy Faribault, a pioneer librarian. He died in Quebec City, in December 1870. [9]
Title/subject | Artist | Date created | Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Robert Baldwin | Théophile Hamel | 1848 | Oil on canvas |
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine | Théophile Hamel | 1848 | Oil on canvas |
Egerton Ryerson | Théophile Hamel | 1850-1 | Oil on canvas |
'Madame Renaud and Her Daughters Wilhemine and Emma' | Théophile Hamel | 1853 | Oil on canvas |
'L'Abbé Edouard Faucher' | Théophile Hamel | 1855 | Oil on canvas |
Jean-Antoine Panet | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1856 | Oil on canvas |
David William Smith | Théophile Hamel | 1859 | Oil on canvas |
Alexander Macdonell | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
Levius Peters Sherwood | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1855 | Oil on canvas |
John Willson | Théophile Hamel | 1855 | Oil on canvas |
Marshall Spring Bidwell | Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
Archibald McLean | Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
Sir Allan Napier MacNab [n 1] | Théophile Hamel | 1853 | Oil on canvas |
Henry Ruttan | Théophile Hamel | 1856 | Oil on canvas |
Austin Cuvillier | Copy by Théophile Hamel | 1856 | Oil on canvas |
Augustin-Norbert Morin | Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
John Sandfield Macdonald | Théophile Hamel | 1854 | Oil on canvas |
Louis-Victor Sicotte | Théophile Hamel | 1855 | Oil on canvas |
Sir Allan MacNab | Théophile Hamel | 1862 | Oil on canvas |
Joseph-Édouard Turcotte | Théophile Hamel | 1865 | Oil on canvas |
Major General James Wolfe | Copy by Théophile Hamel | c. 1865 | Oil on canvas |
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm | Copy by Théophile Hamel | c. 1865 | Oil on canvas |
George Prevost | Copy by Théophile Hamel after Robert Field ( c. 1808) | 1864 | Oil on canvas |