Fanny Corbeaux - Leila - Google Art Project

Marie Françoise Catherine Doetger "Fanny" Corbaux (1812–1883) was a British painter and biblical commentator. She was also the inventor of kalsomine (calcimine), whitewash with added

zinc oxide Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It is a white powder which is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, Zinc metabolism, food supplements, rubbe ...

Life

Corbaux was born in Paris, the daughter of Francis Corbaux, an English-born statistician and mathematician, the author of the ''Dictionnaire des Arbitrages des Changes'', and the ''Doctrine of Compound Interest'', who spent much of his life abroad. When she was about fifteen her father was reduced to poverty, and, despite a minimal artistic education, she was obliged to use her talent for painting to earn money. She later remembered:

"I tried to use colours; but so little idea had I of painting, that when the well-known coloured print, 'Gaston de Foix,' was lent me to copy, I remember my extreme anxiety to copy the appearance of the engraving, by imitating its lines of shading, in the armour and draperies, with the colour.

She quickly developed her talents, and in 1827 she was awarded the large silver medal of the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

for an original miniature portrait, the silver Isis medal for a copy of figures in water-colours, and the silver palette for a copy of an engraving. In 1828 an original composition of figures in watercolours again won her the silver Isis medal, and a miniature portrait, exhibited in 1830, the gold medal. During these years she studied by making copies at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

and the

British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it ...

. In 1830 she was elected an honorary member of the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

, and for a few years exhibited small oil paintings at its gallery, but later abandoned the medium, and joined the New Society of Painters in Water-Colours in 1839. She exhibited 86 works at the Royal Academy between 1829 and 1854, fifteen at the British Institution and 48 at the Society of British Artists. She drew a set of illustrations for

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

's ''Pearls of the East'' (1837), and another for ''Cousin Natalia's Tales'' (1841). The designs for the "Pearls of the East" were lithographed by her sister, Louisa. A critic in the ''Literary Gazette'' said that Corbaux had "depicted oriental beauty in all its varieties of voluptuous languor and fascinating vivacity". In 1839 Corbaux took out a patent, jointly with Francis Gybbon Spilsbury and Alexander S. Byrne for what was described as an "improvement in the mode of applying distemper colors, having albumen or gelatin for the vehicle, so as to render the same more durable, and preserving the same when not wanted for immediate use." Corbaux gained a reputation as a biblical critic for her contributions to periodicals and literary societies on subjects relating to scriptural history. They included her ''Letters on the Physical Geography of the Exodus'', published in the ''Athenæum'', and a series on the

Rephaim In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non-Jews, Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im (cf. the plural word in ; , ) refers either to a people of greater-than-average height and ...

for the ''Journal of Sacred Literature''. She also wrote a historical and chronological introduction to ''The Exodus Papyri'', by D.I. Heath (1855). She received a

civil list A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government, typically for service to the state or as honorary pensions. It is a term especially associated with the United Kingdom, and its former colonies and dominions. It was ori ...

pension of £50 from 1871, and died at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

on 1 February 1883.

References

External links

* Picture in oil colours by George Baxter of in Pictorial Album; or, Cabinet of Paintings, 1837, with a poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

* , engraving by Edward Francis Finden for Findens’ Tableaux, 1837, with a poetical illustration (Arabia. The Arab Maid) by

* , engraved by C. A. Perriam for Friendship’s Offering annual, 1837, with a poetical illustration (The Secret Discovered) by

* Paintings for Flowers of Loveliness, 1838, with poetical illustrations by

: ** , engraved by James Thomson. ** , engraved by G. Adcock. ** , engraved by T. A. Dean. ** , engraved by B. Holl.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbaux, Fanny English women painters 1812 births 1883 deaths 19th-century English painters British watercolourists British women watercolourists Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 19th-century English women 19th-century British women painters