Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville (31 May 183518 May 1885) was a French

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

who studied under

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

. His dramatic and intensely patriotic subjects illustrated episodes from the Franco-Prussian War, the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

, the

Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coup ...

, and portraits of soldiers. Some of his works have been collected by the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the larges ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and by the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Early life

Alphonse de Neuville en garde national 1870

Born Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe Deneuville to wealthy parents at

Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; vls, Sint-Omaars) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Saint Audoma ...

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, "strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of ...

, he earned his degree of ''bachelier ès-lettres'', and in 1856 entered the naval school at

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

in spite of family opposition. It was there that his artistic instincts started. The young Alphonse de Neuville was discouraged by several painters of repute, but he was admitted to work in the studio of François-Edouard Picot. He did not remain there long. He was already painting by himself when he produced his first picture, ''The Fifth Battalion of Chasseurs at the Gervais Battery'' (Malakoff). In 1860, Neuville painted an ''Episode of the taking of Naples by

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...

'' for the Artists' Club in the

rue de Provence The rue de Provence is a street located in the 8th and 9th Arrondissements of Paris. It begins at the rue du Faubourg Montmartre and ends at the rue de Rome . Only the short part of the street between rue du Havre and rue de Rome is in the 8th a ...

. In 1861, he sent ''The Guard Chasseurs in the Trenches of the Mamelon Vert'' to the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial ar ...

. This cites Montrosier, ''Les Peintres militaires'' (Paris, 1881), "De Neuville," in ''Gazette des beaux arts'' (Paris, 1885).

Illustrator and military artist

Neuville participated in illustrating

Pierre-Jules Hetzel Pierre-Jules Hetzel (15 January 1814 – 17 March 1886) was a French editor and publisher. He is best known for his extraordinarily lavishly illustrated editions of Jules Verne's novels, highly prized by collectors today. Biography Born in Ch ...

's editions of ''

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre- ...

''. He also illustrated ''Le Tour du monde'' and

François Guizot François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (; 4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848. A conservative liberal who opposed the ...

's ''History of France''. At the same time he painted a number of remarkable pictures: ''The Attack in the Streets of Magenta by Zouaves and the Light Horse'' (1864), ''A Zouave Sentinel'' (1865), ''The Battle of San Lorenzo'' (1867), and ''Dismounted Cavalry crossing the Tchernaia'' (1869). In these he showed peculiar insight into military life. He reached the peak of his career after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. The long-term French reaction was

revanchism Revanchism (french: revanchisme, from ''revanche'', "revenge") is the political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses incurred by a country, often following a war or social movement. As a term, revanchism originated in 1870s Fr ...

: a deep sense of bitterness, hatred, and demand for revenge against Germany, especially because of the loss of

Alsace and Lorraine Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. Paintings that emphasized the humiliation of the defeat were in high demand, such as ''The Spy'' by de Neuville.Jay, Robert. "Alphonse de Neuville's 'The Spy' and the Legacy of the Franco-Prussian War," ''Metropolitan Museum Journal'' (1984) 19: pp. 151-16
in JSTOR
/ref> In response, Neuville aimed at depicting episodes of the Franco-Prussian War in his works, and began by representing the ''Bivouac before Le Bourget'' (1872). His fame spread rapidly and was increased by '' The Last Cartridges'' (1873), memorializing an episode involving the

Blue Division The Blue Division ( es, División Azul, german: Blaue Division) was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer ...

of the French marines, in which it is easy to discern the vast difference between the conventional treatment of military subjects, as practised by

Horace Vernet Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (30 June 178917 January 1863), more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects. Biography Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famous painter, who w ...

, and that of a man who had lived the life that he painted. ''Fight on a Railroad'' (1874) was equally successful, and was followed by the ''Attack on a House at Villersexel'' (1875) and the ''Railway Bridge at Styring'' (1877). In 1878 (but not at the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

), the painter exhibited '' Le Bourget'', the ''Surprise at Daybreak'', ''The Intercepted Despatch-bearer'', and a considerable number of drawings. He also exhibited in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

some episodes of the

. Fifty thousand people paid to see his impression of ''The Defence of Rorke's Drift'' (1880), which the infant Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney paid a large sum to acquire. In 1881, he was made an officer of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

for ''The Cemetery of Saint-Privat'', ''The Despatch-bearer'', and ''Huns in the Battle of Chalon''. During these years Neuville was at work with Édouard Detaille on an important although less artistic work, ''The Panorama of Rézonville''. Neuville died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

on May 18, 1885. At the sale of his works the state purchased the paintings ''Bourget'' and ''Attack on a Barricaded House'', as well as watercolor ''The Parley'' and the drawing ''Turco in Fighting Trim'', for the purpose of displaying them at the

Palais du Luxembourg The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...

Gallery

Image:Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville - Les dernières cartouches (1873).jpg, '' Les dernières cartouches '' (1873) File:Alphonse de Neuville - The defence of Rorke's Drift 1879 - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Defence of

Rorke's Drift The Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the ...

'', oil on canvas painting by Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville, 1880,

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

. This incident occurred on 22 January 1879, in the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, cou ...

. File:Neuville défense de la porte de Longboyau img 1960-rama.jpg, ''Défense de la porte de Longboyau, 21 octobre 1870'' (1879) File:Bivouac après le combat du Bourget, 21 décembre 1870.jpg, ''Bivouac après le combat du Bourget, 21 décembre 1870'' (1873) File:Champigny, le four à chaux (détail).jpg, ''Bataille de Champigny'' (1870) File:A Cavalryman MET ep15.30.20.R.jpg, '' A Cavalryman'' (1884)

Notes

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neuville, Alphonse de People from Saint-Omer 1835 births 1885 deaths Burials at Montmartre Cemetery 19th-century French painters French male painters French war artists French history painters Jules Verne Academic art 19th-century war artists 19th-century French novelists

Early life

Illustrator and military artist

Gallery

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links