Jacques Thuillier, (March 18, 1928,

Vaucouleurs Vaucouleurs () is a commune in the Meuse department, northeastern France. It is situated on the river Meuse, approximately from Toul and Commercy. History Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville (1225/33 – 21 October 1314) also known as ...

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

– October 18, 2011, Paris) was a French art historian specializing in 17th-century French painting. Thuillier was an honorary professor at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ...

, where he taught history of artistic creation from 1977 to 1998. He was a renowned specialist of French painting and, alongside the late

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy. Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...

, a leading authority on

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for ...

. He published seminal works on the leading French painters of the time, including

Simon Vouet Simon Vouet (; 9 January 1590 – 30 June 1649) was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII of France, Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France. He and his studio of artists c ...

Georges de La Tour Georges de La Tour (13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chi ...

, the Le Nain brothers,

Laurent de La Hyre Laurent de La Hyre (; 27 February 1606 – 28 December 1656) was a French Baroque painter, born in Paris. He was a leading exponent of the neoclassical style of Parisian Atticism. Life La Hyre was greatly influenced by the work of Italian art ...

Sébastien Bourdon Sébastien Bourdon (2 February 1616 – 8 May 1671) was a French painter and engraver. His ''chef d'œuvre'' is ''The Crucifixion of St. Peter'' made for the cathedral of Notre Dame. Biography Bourdon was born in Montpellier, Franc ...

Jacques Blanchard Jacques Blanchard (1600–1638), also known as Jacques Blanchart, was a French baroque painter who was born in Paris. He was raised and taught by his uncle, the painter (ca. 1560–1630). Jacques’s brother and son, Jean-Baptiste Blanchard ...

and Lubin Baugin. His publications on those painters often took the form of both an exhibition catalogue and a ''

catalogue raisonné A ''catalogue raisonné'' (or critical catalogue) is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media. The works are described in such a way that they may be reliably identified ...

'' based on extensive archival research. An avid collector, Thuillier donated, while still alive, along with his brother Guy Thuillier, his collection of drawings (2,000) and engravings (13,000) to the Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy and part of his collection of paintings to the art museum at

Vic-sur-Seille Vic-sur-Seille (, literally ''Vic on Seille''; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. People It was the birthplace of Georges de La Tour. Art museum The art museum of Vic-sur-Seille, in French ', was c ...

. He donated to the city of

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in central France. It was the principal city of the former province of Nivernais. It is ...

part of his archives, his library, a collection of drawings and engravings, and his collections of photographs, thus making the Nevers Médiathèque into a documentation centre for French painting of the 17th century. Another part of these archives and manuscripts is held at the INHA ( fr), in Paris.

Main publications

*''French Painting'', Rizzoli International Publications *''Fragonard'', Rizzoli International Publications *''Les Prophètes: Vitraux d
Sergio de Castro
' / ''Los Profetas: Vidrieras de Sergio de Castro'' (1984), Ediciones El Viso, Madrid, *''Laurent de La Hyre 1606–1655'' (1988), Geneva, Skira *''Georges de La Tour'' (1992), Paris, Flammarion *''Nicolas Poussin'' (1995), Flammarion, Paris, *''Poussin before Rome: 1594–1624'', translated from the French by Christopher Allen (1995), Richard L. Feigen & Co., London, New York, Chicago *''Sébastien Bourdon 1616–1671'' (2000), Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris *''Histoire de l'art'' (2002), Flammarion, Paris, *''History of Art'' (2002), Flammarion, Paris,

References

External links

Jacques Thuillier's biography on the College de France Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuillier, Jacques 1928 births 2011 deaths People from Vaucouleurs French art historians École Normale Supérieure alumni Academic staff of the Collège de France French male non-fiction writers