Claude Charles
(artist unknown)

Claude Charles (6 January 1661, Nancy – 4 June 1747, Nancy) was a French historical and decorative painter. He also served as a Herald-at-Arms.

Life and work

He was the son of Jean Charles, an attorney for the local bailiwick and a notary. His first art lessons were in Épinal with Jean-George Gérard (1642-1690); a painter of religious scenes.[1]

At the age of only sixteen, he went to Rome. There, he spent nine years working with Giovanni Maria Morandi and Carlo Maratta, as well as several other artists.[2] Later, he spent a short time in Paris, copying the works of Poussin at the gallery owned by Paul Fréart de Chantelou.

He returned to Nancy in 1688. Two years later, he married Anne Racle, from a family of goldsmiths and engravers.[2]

In 1702, he was named the first Director of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in Nancy. The following year, he became the Herald and court painter to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine.[2] His notable students included Jean-Charles François, Jean Girardet; Claude Jacquart and Joseph Gilles.

He practiced a mixture of Baroque and traditional art and often collaborated on the designs of his larger works. Several theatrical sets, for example, were designed with the Galli da Bibiena family; acquaintances from his time in Rome.[3] Twenty-seven of his works are classified as historical monuments.[4]

Selected works

References

  1. ↑ Gérard Voreaux and Jean-Charles Taillandier, Joseph Gilles, dit PROVENÇAL (1679-1749), Peintre lorrain du XVIIIe siècle, notable de vandoeuvre, Ville de Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, (2007) pgs.9-10 ISBN 978-2-9529107-0-5
  2. 1 2 3 Biographical notes from the Histoire Lorraine @ the Lorraine Café (scroll down).
  3. ↑ Jean Yves and Duron Ferraton, Henry Desmarest (1661-1741), Editions Mardaga, 2005 ISBN 978-2-87009-886-8
  4. ↑ Works by Claude Charles @ the Ministère de la Culture
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Claude Charles.
  • Michael Bryan, « CHARLES, Claude » in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Robert Edmund Graves and Sir Walter Armstrong, 1886–1889, p.265 (Online)


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