Charles Lebayle (28 May 1856, in

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 ...

– 22 January 1898, in Paris) was a French painter and designer, who is mostly known for his collaborations with

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

makers.

Biography

His father ran a

window dressing A display window, also a shop window (British English) or store window (American English), is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in th ...

and decorating company. At the age of fourteen, he began attending evening classes at the

École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (; ÉnsAD) also known as Arts Decos' and École des Arts décoratifs, is a public grande école of art and design, constituent member of PSL Research University. The school is located in the R ...

, where he became a student of

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French Painting, painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the Academic art, academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. He was Napoleon ...

and the sculptor

Aimé Millet Aimé Millet (September 28, 1819 – January 14, 1891) was a French sculptor who was a professor at the École des Arts décoratifs. Biography Born in Paris, Millet was the son of miniaturist Frédéric Millet (1796–1859) and uncle to Chica ...

. After his father's death, he became responsible for his family and tried to maintain the business, but it ultimately failed. His début at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

came in 1877. Rather than paintings, he exhibited works in stained glass; a suggestion which came from his friend , who would later become a well known glass painter. He won a competition at the

École des Beaux-arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in 1879, then studied oil painting with

Adolphe Yvon Adolphe Yvon (30 January 1817 – 11 September 1893) was a French painter known for his paintings of the Napoleonic Wars. Yvon studied under Paul Delaroche, rose to fame during the Second Empire, then finished his career as a teacher. Career Ad ...

, in classes that were open to the public. In 1885, he worked at

Autun Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Lazarus of Autun (), commonly known as Autun Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Autun and a Monument historique, national monument of France. Famous for its Cluniac inspiration and its Romanesque sculptures by Gisle ...

where he helped create a glass roof depicting the life of the

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

, from drawings by the architect Lucien Magne and decorator . He also created the main window at the

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

Town Hall, together with . A year later, 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 ...

for '' Claudius Proclaimed Emperor'', and spent two years at the

Villa Medicis The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Renaissance architecture#Mannerism, Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Tr ...

. While there, he painted a mural at the Villa called "The Sea and the Shepherd". However, none of the paintings he created during his stay were purchased by the French government, as was customary. Following this disappointment, he lost his sister and mother. When he returned to France, he took a position in the workshops of the famous stained glass artist,

Lucien Bégule Lucien Bégule (10 May 1848, Saint-Genis-Laval - 1 February 1935, Lyon) was a French stained-glass painter, archaeologist, and amateur photographer. Biography He was born to Georges Bégule (1805-1882), an auctioneer, and his wife, Stéphanie n� ...

, and helped create windows for the Hôpital de la Charité in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, most of which were destroyed when the building was demolished in 1933. After making an unsuccessful attempt to establish his own glass painting business and a continuing failure to achieve recognition as an artist in his own right, he became despondent and shot himself through the heart.Henri Carot: «Notice nécrologique de Charles Lebayle», from ''Le journal de la peinture sur verre'', #25, March 1898.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lebayle, Charles 1856 births 1898 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters French stained glass artists and manufacturers Painters from Paris Artists who died by suicide Prix de Rome for painting École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs alumni 1890s suicides Suicides by firearm in France 19th-century French male artists