François-Léon Benouville
Born30 March 1821
Paris
Died16 February 1859
Paris
EducationÉcole des Beaux-Arts
MovementNeoclassical, Orientalist
AwardsPrix de Rome (1845); Prix des Beaux Arts (1845) with Alexandre Cabanel

François-Léon Benouville (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa leɔ̃ bənuvil]; Paris 30 March 1821 – 16 February 1859 Paris) was a French painter noted for his Neoclassical religious compositions and for painting Orientalist subjects.

Life and career

The Wrath of Achilles (1847), Musée Fabre, Montpellier

Léon Benouville first studied with his elder brother, Jean-Achille Benouville (1815–1891), in the studio of François-Edouard Picot before he transferred to École des Beaux-Arts in 1837. Like his brother he received the Prix de Rome in 1845. Both he and his brother travelled to Rome. In Rome, as a Prix de Rome pensionary at the Villa Medici. He remained there for a year, but his brother stayed on for two more years. His works produced in Rome are influenced by early Christianity and often show representations of antiquity.

Work and style

Esther à l'odalisque (1844), Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pau
Joan of Arc hearing voices, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen

Benouville was best known for his portraits, mythological and religious compositions in the Neoclassical and Orientalist style. He worked in oils, ink and chalk.

Awards, prizes and honours

In 1845, Benouville, together with contemporary Alexandre Cabanel, was the recipient of the Prix des Beaux Arts for his painting, Jesus at the Pretorium.[1]

Select list of paintings

  • Portrait of Leconte de Floris 1840
  • Melancholy c. 1843
  • Esther 1844
  • The Mockery of Christ 1845
  • The Wrath of Achilles 1847
  • Christian Martyrs enter the Amphitheatre, c.1855

See also

List of Orientalist artists Orientalism

References

  1. ↑ GLUECKAPRIL, G., [ART REVIEW] "After the Fad: A Salon Favorite Now Forgotten," [Review of Training an Artist: Alexandre Cabanel and the Academic Process in 19th-Century France Dahesh Museum, New York Times, 3 April-13 June 1998], 3 April 1998, Online: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/04/03/arts/art-review-after-the-fad-a-salon-favorite-now-forgotten.html?mcubz=3]

Media related to Léon Benouville at Wikimedia Commons


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