Auguste de Châtillon (29 January 1808 – 26 March 1881) was a French painter, sculptor and poet. He was born and died in Paris. He,

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval (; 22 May 1808 – 26 January 1855), the pen name of the French writer, poet, and translator Gérard Labrunie, was a French essayist, poet, translator, and travel writer. He was a major figure during the era of French romantici ...

and

Arsène Houssaye Arsène Houssaye (28 March 181526 February 1896) was a French novelist, poet and man of letters. His 1879 book '' Des destinées de l'âme'' is notable for having been bound in human skin. Biography Houssaye was born in Bruyères (Aisne), near ...

formed the "bohème du Doyenné".

Life

He first exhibited at the

Paris Salon of 1831 The Salon of 1831 was an art exhibition held at the Louvre in Paris between June and August 1831. It was the first Salon during the July Monarchy and the first to be held since the Salon of 1827, as a planned exhibition of 1830 was cancelled due t ...

, initially painting portraits of subjects such as Gautier,

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

and Hugo's family, including one of Hugo and his son François-Victor and another of Hugo's daughter Léopoldine. He designed costumes for Hugo's 1832 premiere '' Le Roi s’amuse'' and painted the woodwork in de Nerval's living room. He lived in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

from 1844 to 1851 and on his return to France published a poetry collection in 1855 entitled ''Chant et poésie'', which was twice republished and expanded under the title ''À la Grand'Pinte, poésies d'Auguste de Châtillon'' in 1860 and as ''Les Poésies d'Auguste Châtillon'' in 1866. In the preface to the 1855 edition, Gautier wrote of the writer-painter "he reconciles simplicity and artifice, and his poems can bawl at the cabaret and sign in the living-room. In a short letter to him on 8 April 1869, Hugo wrote "There is something in you of

La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, ; ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Euro ...

's easy grace combined with an extra melancholy charm". The collection includes works in both Romantic and earlier styles, portraits of the time and evocations of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

and New Orleans. The two most noted poems at the time were ''À la Grand’Pinte'' and ''La Levrette en paletot''.

Gallery

Image:Auguste de Chatillon - Le Petit Ramoneur.jpg, ''Le Petit Ramoneur'' (1832), location unknown Image:Auguste de Chatillon - Victor Hugo et son fils.jpg, ''

and his son François-Victor'' (1836),

Maison de Victor Hugo Maison de Victor Hugo (, ''Victor Hugo's House'') is a writer's house museum located where Victor Hugo lived for 16 years between 1832 and 1848. It is one of the 14 City of Paris' Museums that have been incorporated since January 1, 2013 in the ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Image:Auguste de Chatillon - Léopoldine Hugo.jpg, ''

Léopoldine Hugo Léopoldine Cécile Marie-Pierre Catherine Hugo (; 28 August 1824 – 4 September 1843) was the eldest daughter of Victor Hugo and Adèle Foucher. Early life Léopoldine was born in Paris, the second of five children and eldest daughter of Vic ...

'' (1836), daughter of Victor Hugo, on the day of her first communion,

. Image:Auguste de Chatillon - Portrait de Théophile Gautier.jpg, ''

'' (1839), musée de la Vie Romantique,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatillon, Auguste de 19th-century French poets 19th-century French painters French portrait painters 19th-century French sculptors Writers from Paris 1808 births 1881 deaths Painters from Paris