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Julien Dupré (1851–1910) Dupré was a popular French
painter specialising in photographic realism. He was born in Paris,
and first studied drawing at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs. He then
gained entry to the Ecole Nationale et Spéciale des Beaux-Arts, firstly
studying under Isidore Pils and then Henri Lehmann. He had a strong
attraction to the countryside and its way of life. It was during a stay
in a village at Picardy that he became acquainted with the artist Désiré
Laugée who was to become his teacher and later, his father-in-law. He
was profoundly moved by the different aspects of nature, which he constantly
observed and studied. It was the landscapes of Normandy and Picardy
that particularly appealed to him, and there he studied the way of life,
the workers, the peasants, the harvest, and the animals which he depicts
in his works. Everything in nature fascinated him. He sometimes painted
under the ardour of a shining sun, sometimes with the effects of backlighting,
shadows and lights that a cloudy sky run on the fleeing grounds to the
horizon. The figures appearing in his paintings show a contrapposto
and movement; they are accurately executed in proportion to the dimension
of his work. He also demonstrates a true gift for playing with colours.
His fervent and stubborn desire to reproduce his subjects faithfully
enhanced his originality at the time. Dupré's paintings were very much
in demand, particularly in the United States, where he sold many. He
won many awards, and exhibited at the Salon in Paris regularly between
1876 until his death, which occurred in that city. |
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