Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran
Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran (May 14, 1802 – August 7, 1897) was a French artist and teacher.
He was born in Paris. Boisbaudran was admitted in 1819 to the École des Beaux-Arts where he studied under Peyron and Guillon Lethière. He exhibited at the Salon in 1831 and 1840, and became a professor at the academy.
As a drawing instructor he became known for his innovative method which emphasized memorization.[1] His students were instructed to visit the Louvre, where they were to carefully study a painting in order to reproduce it from memory later, in the studio. This exercise was intended to help the student to discover his own visual language.[1]
Among Lecoq de Boisbaudran's best-known students were Rodin, Fantin-Latour, and Alphonse Legros.[2] Others who studied with him include Jules Chéret, Léon Lhermitte, Jean-Charles Cazin, Jules Dalou and Oscar Roty. Lecoq de Boisbaudran died in Paris on August 7, 1897.
Books by Lecoq de Boisbaudran
- Éducation de la mémoire pittoresque, Paris, 1848.
- Éducation de la mémoire pittoresque, application aux arts du dessin, 2e éd. augmentée, Paris, Bance, 1862.
- Lettres à un jeune professeur, Paris, Morel, 1876.
- Un Coup d'œil à l'enseignement aux Beaux-Arts, Paris, Morel, 1879.
- L'Éducation de la mémoire pittoresque et la formation de l'artiste, publié par Lowes Dalbiac Luard, Paris, Laurens, 1920 (compilation of the preceding titles).
- The Training of the Memory in Art, and the Education of the Artist (English translation of preceding titles, London, Macmillan, 1911)
Notes
- McConkey and Robin 1995, p. 11.
- State University of New York at Binghamton 1974, p. 34.
References
- McConkey, Kenneth, and Anna Gruetzner Robin. 1995. Impressionism in Britain. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-06334-2.
- State University of New York at Binghamton. 1974. Strictly academic : life drawing in the nineteenth century : a loan exhibition organized by the University Art Gallery, State University of New York at Binghamton. Binghamton: The Gallery.