Peter Adolf Hall
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Peter Adolf Hall, also known as PA Hall or Peter Adolphe Hall, (23 February 1739 in
Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 114,556 inhabitants in 2024. It is widely known for being a textile city, home to worldwide brands and companie ...
– 15 May 1793 in
Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
), was a Swedish-French artist who mainly devoted himself to
miniature painting Miniature painting may refer to: * Miniature (illuminated manuscript), a small illustration used to decorate an illuminated manuscript ** Persian miniature, a small painting on paper in the Persian tradition, for a book or album ** Ottoman miniatur ...
.


Early life

Hall was born to a merchant and magistrate in Borås, who was also a Member of Parliament, Petter Börjesson Hall (1707-1776) and Eva Margareta. Eva was an older cousin of the astronomer
Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin ( Sunne parish, Jämtlands län 11 September 1717 ( OS) – Stockholm 13 December 1783), Swedish astronomer and demographer. Wargentin was the son of the vicar of Sunne Wilhelm Wargentin (1670–1735) and his spouse C ...
. Together with his younger brother Birger Martin, Hall studied medicine and 'natural history' between 1753-55 at
Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...
's medical faculty where
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
taught. In the following years, 1755–59, the brothers went on a period-style educational journey in Europe under the guidance of a teacher, Mr. Lars Brisman. In
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, Peter Adolf acquainted himself both with playing music and took a liking to the visual arts. To his father's chagrin, he started working in enamel and miniature painting instead of becoming a doctor.


Career

In May 1766 Hall began to work as an artist 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 ...
. Three years later, at the age of 30, he was elected to the French Academy of Fine Arts. He painted portraits of the
Dauphin of France Dauphin of France (, also ; ), originally Dauphin of Viennois (''Dauphin de Viennois''), was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word ''dauphin'' is French for dolphin and ...
, the prospective
Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
, as of his two brothers, who also would ascend the throne eventually, after the Revolution and the Napoleonic period, namely,
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...
and
Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...
. Peter Adolf Hall was then appointed a court painter or ''Peintre du Roi et des Enfants de France''. According to an account book kept by his wife, between the years 1782-87 Hall painted an average of 70 portraits a year, of nobilities in general and people from the fashionable society. His annual income was around 25,000
livres Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * F ...
.


Family

On 23 April 1771 he married a merchant's daughter, Marie Adelaïde Gobin (1752-1832), in the newly built parish church of Saint-Louis at
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
. They would in time have three daughters and a son. He encouraged his eldest daughter
Adélaïde Victoire Hall Adélaïde Victoire Hall, called ''Adèle'' (11 May 1772 – 14 October 1844), was a Swedish-French artist and noble (marquise). She was given the honorary title of ''agré'' of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (1793). Hall was born in Paris, th ...
's talent for visual arts, and played the flute with his second daughter, the musical Angélique ''Lucie'' Hall (1774-1819) who played the piano. His third daughter was named ''Adolphine'' Mélanie Isabelle Hall (1777-1852) and the fourth child was the son Gabriel Hippolyte ''Adolphe'' Hall (1780-1833).


Exile

Peter Adolf Hall was a strong supporter of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
's ideology. Among those who visited his home on the Rue du Petit-Reposoir in Paris were not only the art world participants and patrons but also the Marquis of Lafayette. Hall was present at the
Storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille ( ), which occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, was an act of political violence by revolutionary insurgents who attempted to storm and seize control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison k ...
as a revolutionary officer. In 1791 he went into exile though and never reunited with his family in Paris ever again. His wife's inherited wealth was confiscated by the nation and a son-in-law married to the painter's first-born was torn to pieces by a mob six weeks after their wedding. Hall supported his family from abroad as best as he could, but died in Belgium a few years later.


References

* Lennart Andersson Palm: Peter Adolf Hall - The most famous borås author. In: Boras's history I (2005), pp. 173–78. * Karl Asplund: Peter Adolf Hall. A biographical sketch. National Museums Yearbook. (1938). * Karl Asplund: Peter Adolf Hall. In: Sixten Strömbom (eds): Five Great Gustavian (Collins, 1944) * Per Bjurström: Swedish artist lexicon (1957), Part III * Görel Cavalli-Björkman: Swedish miniature painting: an art book from National Museum (Raben & Sjogren, 1981) * Torben Holck Colding: Aspects of Miniature Painting (Copenhagen, 1953) * Denis Diderot and others.: Reviews of Hall's works (1769–89), at the annual Paris salon group exhibition, from among others. a Mercure de France and L'Avantcourer. Although excerpts from General newspapers Halls activity in Paris. (Uppsala University Library, Manuscript Department, S-L Gahm-Persson collections (Dossier X 211). * Nils Forssell: Peter Adolf Hall and Boras. In: Boras's history 2 (1953), pp. 150–54. * Johan Fredrik Höckert: Peter Adolf Hall In Series: Champion of Swedish Art (6) (Malmo, 1950) p. 156 * Regine de Plinval the Guillebon: Pierre Adolphe Hall 1739-1793, Miniaturiste anglais, Peintre du Roi et des Enfants de France (Paris, 2000) * Oscar Levertin: Niklas Lafrensen D. Y. and relations between Swedish and French painting in the 1700s (the Royal Hofboktryckeriet, 1899). Section of Hall pages 52–63 and pages 158-163. * John Zaméo Lofgren: The miniatures of Peter Adolf Hall, PhD thesis, Univ of Oregon (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International, 1976) p. 247 * Axel Sjöblom: Comments on Peter Adolf Hall's technology. In: Sixten Strömbom (eds): Five Great Gustavian (Collins, 1944) * Seth Tingvallsgatan: Peter Adolf Hall - Boras greatest son. In: The seven counties agree Yearbook (1960) * Fredric Villot: Hall, Celebre Miniaturiste You Xviii Siècle: Sa Vie, Ses oeuvres, Sa Correspondance (Paris 1867, 2010)


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Peter Adolf 1739 births Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts 1793 deaths 18th-century Swedish painters 18th-century Swedish male artists Swedish male painters French people of Swedish descent Rococo painters French portrait painters Portrait miniaturists 18th-century French painters Age of Liberty people 18th-century French male artists People from Borås Artists from Västra Götaland County