Carolus-Duran Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Carolus-Duran
Portrait of Carolus-Duran (1879), Clark Art Institute, by John Singer Sargent.
Born	Charles Auguste Émile Durand (1837-07-04)4 July 1837 Lille, France
Died	17 February 1917(1917-02-17) (aged 79) Paris, France
Alma mater	Académie des Beaux-Arts
Known for	director of the French Academy in Rome
Awards	commander of the Legion of Honour

Charles Auguste Émile Durand, better known as Carolus-Duran, was a famous French painter and art teacher. He was born in Lille, France, on July 4, 1837, and passed away in Paris on February 17, 1917. Carolus-Duran was well-known for painting beautiful portraits of important people from high society in France during the time of the Third Republic.

Carolus-Duran's Early Life and Art Training
Travels and Developing His Style
Artistic Groups and Family Life
Later Career and Recognition
Notable Students of Carolus-Duran
Selected Works
See also

Carolus-Duran's Early Life and Art Training

Carolus-Duran was the son of a hotel owner. He started learning to draw with a local sculptor named Augustin-Phidias Cadet de Beaupré. This was at the Académie de Lille. After that, he began painting lessons with François Souchon. Souchon was a student of the famous painter Jacques Louis David.

In 1853, Carolus-Duran moved to Paris. This is where he started using the name "Carolus-Duran." He had his first art show at the important Salon in 1859. Around the same time, he studied at the Académie Suisse until 1861. Early in his career, he was inspired by the realistic style of Gustave Courbet.

Travels and Developing His Style

Carolus-Duran (c. 1880)

From 1862 to 1866, Carolus-Duran traveled to Rome and Spain. He could do this because his hometown gave him a scholarship. During his travels, he started to move away from Courbet's style. He became very interested in the work of the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez.

When he returned to France, he won his first gold medal at the Salon. One of his first successful paintings was "Murdered," or "The Assassination" (1866). However, he soon became most famous for painting portraits. He also became the head of a major art studio, called an atelier, in Paris. Many talented artists of the next generation learned from him there.

Artistic Groups and Family Life

In 1867, Carolus-Duran joined a group called the "Société Japonaise du Jinglar." This group had nine members, including artists like Henri Fantin-Latour and Félix Bracquemond. They would meet once a month in Sèvres for a special Japanese-style dinner.

Carolus-Duran married Pauline Croizette [fr]. She was an artist who worked with pastels and made small paintings called miniatures. Pauline had posed for his famous painting "The Lady in Gloves" in 1869. They had three children together. Their oldest daughter, Marie-Anne, later married the playwright Georges Feydeau.

Later Career and Recognition

Carolus-Duran, The Artist's Gardener, 1893, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute.

After 1870, Carolus-Duran focused almost entirely on painting portraits. Many of his paintings showed wealthy people in fancy clothes. But he also painted a notable portrait of his gardener. This painting was different from his other works, with looser brushstrokes and earthy colors.

His success allowed him to open his own studio on the Boulevard du Montparnasse. Here, he also taught painting lessons to many students. He received many honors for his work. He was made a Knight in the Légion d'honneur in 1872. This is a very high award in France. He was promoted to Officer in 1878, Commander in 1889, and Grand Officer in 1900.

Carolus-Duran served on the juries for the World's Fairs (Expositions Universelles) in 1889 and 1900. In 1890, he helped start the second Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He was also elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1904. The next year, he became the Director of the French Academy in Rome. He held this important position until 1913.

The Lady in Gloves, modeled by his wife Pauline.

He often visited the resort town of Fréjus, where he owned a small house. After he passed away, the town named a plaza and a beach after him to honor his memory.

Notable Students of Carolus-Duran

Carolus-Duran was a very influential teacher. Many artists who became famous later on studied with him. Most of his most well-known students were from Britain or America.

Some of his students included: