François Gérard

Court painter to Emperor Napoleon and later First Painter to Kings Louis XVIII and Charles X, Gérard enjoyed great renown across Europe. Nicknamed “the painter of kings, the king of painters”, he was the portraitist of choice for many European royal families. His salon was one of the most celebrated of its time and welcomed the some of the era’s most eminent figures. After he was made a baron of the Empire in 1809 by Emperor Napoleon, he was known formally as Baron Gérard.

• Name — Francois Gérard • Birth Name — François Pascal Simon Gérard • Born — 12 March 1770 • Birthplace — Rome, Papal States • Died — 11 January 1837 • Place of death — Paris, France • Known for — Portrait painting • Training — Pajou, Brenet, David

• Illustration — Portrait by Thomas Lawrence (c. 1824) François Gérard was born in Rome to J. S. Gérard and Cleria Matteï.[1] At the age of twelve, Gérard obtained admission into the Pension du Roi in Paris. From the Pension, he passed to the studio of the sculptor Augustin Pajou, which he left at the end of two years for the studio of the history painter Nicolas-Guy Brenet,[2] whom he quit almost immediately to place himself under Jacques-Louis David. In 1789, he competed for the Prix de Rome, which was carried off by his comrade Girodet. The following year (1790), he once more showed up, but the passing of his father prevented him from finishing his work and forced him to travel to Rome with his mother. He eventually made it back to Paris in 1791, but due to his extreme poverty, he was forced to abandon his studies in favor of a job that would pay him money right away. David at once availed himself of his help, and one of that master's most celebrated portraits, of Louis-Michel Le Pelletier de Saint-Fargeau, may owe much to the hand of Gérard. This painting was executed early in 1793, the year in which Gérard, at the request of David, was named a member of the revolutionary tribunal, from the fatal decisions of which he, however, invariably absented himself. • Illustration — Family tomb in Montparnasse Cemetery In 1794, he obtained the first prize in a competition, the subject of which was The Tenth of August, that is, the storming of the Tuileries Palace on that date in 1792. Further stimulated by the successes of his rival and friend Girodet in the Salons of 1793 and 1794, Gérard (aided by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, the miniaturist) produced in 1795 his famous Bélisaire. In 1796, a portrait of his generous friend (conserved today in the Louvre) obtained undisputed success, and the money received from Isabey for these two works enabled Gérard to execute in 1797 his Psyche et l'Amour (illustration). At last, in 1799, his portrait of Madame Mère established his position as one of the foremost portrait-painters of the day. At the Salon of 1808, eight (and at the Salon of 1810, fourteen) portraits by him were exhibited, indicating the numbers he executed yearly. Figures of the Empire and of the Bourbon Restoration, as well as men and women of Europe, sat for Gérard. This was due in part to his manner and conversation, as his salon was frequented alongside his studio. Madame Germaine de Staël, George Canning, Charles de Talleyrand, and the Duke of Wellington have written about his society. Rich and famous, Gérard was stung by remorse for earlier ambitions abandoned; at intervals, he had indeed striven with Girodet and other rivals to prove his strength at history painting, still a more prestigious genre than portraiture. His Bataille d'Austerlitz (1810) showed a breadth of invention and style which was even more conspicuous in L'Entrée d'Henri IV à Paris (at Versailles), the work with which in 1817 he paid homage to the returned Louis XVIII. After this date, Gérard declined, watching with impotent grief the progress of the Romantic school. Loaded with honors – baron of the Empire in 1809, member of the Institut on 7 March 1812, officer of the Légion d'honneur, first painter to the king – he worked on, sad and discouraged. He painted several works to celebrate the Coronation of Charles X in 1825. In 1830 he was commissioned by Charles to produce a large history painting of his son Duke of Angoulême bidding farewell to the French Army expedition departing Toulon for the Conquest of Algeria. This was never executed as it was rapidly overtaken by the events of the July Revolution that brought down Charles and the Bourbon Dynasty.[3] The revolution of 1830 added to his disquiet, and on 11 January 1837, after three days of fever, he died. gérard is best remembered for his portraits. The color of his paintings has suffered, but his drawings show in uninjured delicacy the purity of his line, and those of women are specially remarkable for a virginal simplicity and frankness of expression. His students included Heinrich Christoph Kolbe.

• Illustration — Marius Returning to Rome, 1789 • Illustration — Antoine-Jean Gros, 1791 • Illustration — Jean-Baptiste Isabey and His Daughter, 1795 • Illustration — Portrait of Joséphine de Beauharnais, 1801 • Illustration — Flora Caressed by Zephyr, 1802 • Illustration — Portrait of Juliette Récamier, 1802 • Illustration — Portrait of Letizia Bonaparte, 1803 • Illustration — Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul, 1803 • Illustration — Portrait of Mary Nisbet, 1803 • Illustration — Catherine Grand, 1804 • Illustration — Marshal Michel Ney, 1805 • Illustration — Napoleon I as Emperor, 1805 • Illustration — Portrait of Joséphine de Beauharnais, 1808 • Illustration — Portrait of Joachim Murat, 1808 • Illustration — Portrait of Talleyrand, 1808 • Illustration — Portrait of Joseph Bonaparte, 1808 • Illustration — Portrait of Marie Walewska, 1810 • Illustration — Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz, 1810 • Illustration — Portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte, 1811 • Illustration — Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, 1811 • Illustration — Portrait of Joachim Murat, king of Naples and of the Two Sicilies, 1811–1812, private collection, Paris • Illustration — Portrait of Marie Louise, 1812 • Illustration — Portrait of Louis XVIII, 1814 • Illustration — Portrait of the Duke of Wellington, 1814 • Illustration — Portrait of Désirée Clary • Illustration — Portrait of Catherine Grand, Princesse de Bénévent • Illustration — Portrait of Hortense de Beauharnais • Illustration — Portrait of Hortense de Beauharnais • Illustration — Cupid and Psyche • Illustration — Portrait of the Count of Artois, 1815 • Illustration — Teresa of Ávila • Illustration — Entry of Henry IV into Paris, 1817 • Illustration — Corinne at Cape Misenum, 1819–1821, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon • Illustration — Portrait of the Duke of Berry, 1820 • Illustration — Duchess of Berry, 1820 • Illustration — Adelaide of Orleans, 1821 • Illustration — The Duchess of Berry and Her Children, 1822 • Illustration — Louis XVIII in his Study, 1823 • Illustration — Daphnis and Chloe, c. 1824, oil on canvas, The Detroit Institute of Arts • Illustration — Portrait of Charles X, 1825 • Illustration — Zoé Talon and her Children, 1825 • Illustration — Maximilien Sébastien Foy, 1826 • Illustration — The Coronation of Charles X, 1827 • Illustration — Lord Stuart de Rothesay, 1829 • Illustration — Portrait of Alphonse de Lamartine, 1831 • Illustration — Portrait of Louis Phillippe I, 1834 • Illustration — The Reading of the Declaration of the Deputies, 1836 • Illustration — Mme de Staël as her character Corinne (posthumously)

The authorities additionally record the headings François Pascal Simon, Baron Gérard, François Pascal Simon (Baron) Gérard, Baron François Pascal Simon Gérard, Francois Pascal Simon, Baron Gerard and Francois, Baron Gerard. His recorded language was French. He was the child of Jean Simon Gérard and Claire Mattéi.

François Gérard worked in portrait painting and visual arts. He was employed by Beaux-Arts de Paris. Recorded position is court painter. He belonged to German Archaeological Institute, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and Académie des beaux-arts. He worked at Paris and Rome.

Works recorded as notable number 5: The Battle of Austerlitz, 2nd December 1805, Entrée d'Henri IV à Paris, 22 mars 1594, Cupid and Psyche, Portrait of Emperor Napoleon I and Portrait of Marie Caroline Ferdinande Louise de Naples, Wife of Charles Ferdinand, Duke de Berry, in the Park de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris. His recorded genre is history.