Joseph-Benoît Suvée (3 January 1743 – 9 February 1807) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

painter strongly influenced by French

neo-classicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism w ...

Biography

Suvée was born in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

. Initially a pupil of Matthias de Visch, he came to France aged 19 and became a pupil of Jean-Jacques Bachelier. In 1771, he won the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

. In Rome from 1772 to 1778, he prolonged the usual duration allowed to pensionaries of the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in ...

. He was named an academician on his return to Paris and he opened an art school for young women at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. One of his students was Constance Mayer. He emulated and competed with Jacques-Louis David, earning his enduring hatred. Named the French Academy in Rome's director in 1792, replacing

François-Guillaume Ménageot François-Guillaume Ménageot (1744–1816) was a French painter of religious and French historical scenes. A pupil of François Boucher (1703–1770), he went on to win the Grand Prix de Rome and become a director of the French Academy in Ro ...

, he was imprisoned for a while in the Prison Saint-Lazare and only able to take up the post in 1801. After a brilliant career, and a six years' stay in Rome as the Academy's Director, he died there suddenly. His works include ''Achilles depositing the body of Hector at the feet of the body of Patroclus'', (1769, Louvre), and ''Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi'', (1795, Louvre). His pupils were Jean-Baptiste Joseph Autrique (1777–1853), Augustin van den Berghe, Marie Bouliard, Cornelis Cels, Césarine Henriette Flore Davin, Joseph-François Ducq,

Jean-Bernard Duvivier Jean-Bernard Duvivier (Bruges, 1762 – Paris, 1837) was a painter and drawer of portraits and historical and religious subjects, a book illustrator and a professor at the Normal School in Paris. After having been instructed by Hubert and Paul ...

, Guillielmus Petrus Geysen (1761–1827),

Albert Gregorius Albert Jacob Frans Gregorius, or Albert Jacques François Grégorius (26 October 1774, Bruges - 25 February 1853, Bruges) was a Flemish-Belgian portrait painter and Director of the art academy in Bruges. Biography He was born into a poor, labor ...

, Jean-François Legillon, Constance Mayer, Jozef Karel De Meulemeester (1774–1836), Joseph Denis Odevaere, Gertrude de Pélichy, Pierre Joseph Petit (1768–1825), Ange René Ravault (1766–1845),

Jacques-Albert Senave Jacques-Albert Senave (1758–1823) was a Flanders, Flemish painter active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was born in Lo, Belgium, Lo, Austrian Netherlands. After studying painting in the Dutch Republic, United Provinces, he went to ...

, Charles Spruyt (1769–1851), Philip van der Wal (1774–?), and .Joseph-Benoît Suvée
in the

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

Anna Barbara Bansi, with whom he is said to have had an affair,Profile
at the ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800''. was another pupil.

Selected paintings

File:The Predication of Saint Paul LACMA M.2000.179.24.jpg, ''The Predication of

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

'' File:Suvée, Joseph-Benoit - Milo of Croton.jpg, ''

Milo of Croton Milo or Milon of Croton (late 6th century BC) was a famous ancient Greek athlete. He was most likely a historical person, as he is mentioned by many classical authors, among them Aristotle, Pausanias, Cicero, Herodotus, Vitruvius, Epictetus, an ...

'' File:Joseph-Benoît Suvée - Cornelia, madre dei Gracchi.JPG, '' Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi'' File:Joseph Benoit Suvee - Erminia and the Shepherds.jpg, '' Erminia and the Shepherds''

References

External links

Works by Suvée at the Louvre

Graphic works of Suvée in the Flemish Art Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suvee, Joseph-Benoit 1743 births 1807 deaths Belgian neoclassical painters 18th-century Flemish painters 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century Flemish painters 19th-century French painters Artists from Bruges Prix de Rome for painting 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French male artists