Frédéric Bazille
Frédéric Bazille
Jean Frédéric Bazille (December 6, 1841 – November 28, 1870) was a French Impressionist painter whose major works often foreground the figure within a landscape painted en plein air.
Frédéric Bazille was born in Montpellier, Hérault, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, into a wealthy Protestant family. He became interested in painting after seeing some works of Eugène Delacroix. His family agreed to let him study painting, but only if he also studied medicine.
Bazille began studying medicine in 1859, and moved to Paris in 1862 to continue his studies. There he met Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley, was drawn to Impressionist painting, and began taking classes in Charles Gleyre’s studio. After failing his medical exam in 1864, he began painting full-time. His close friends included Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Édouard Manet. Bazille was generous with his wealth, and helped support his less fortunate associates by giving them space in his studio and materials to use.
Bazille was just twenty-three years old when he painted several of his best known works, including The Pink Dress (ca. 1864, Musée d’Orsay, Paris). This painting combines a portrait-like depiction of Bazille’s cousin, Thérèse des Hours, who is seen from behind—and the sunlit landscape at which she gazes. His best known painting is Family Reunion of 1867–1868 (Musée d’Orsay, Paris).
Frédéric Bazille joined a Zouave regiment in August 1870, a month after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. On November 28 of that year he was with his unit at the Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande when, his officer having been injured, he took command and led an assault on the German position. He was hit twice in the failed attack and died on the battlefield at the age of twenty nine. His father travelled to the battlefield a few days later to take his body back for burial at Montpellier over a week later.
Self portrait, 1866
Oil on canvas,
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA ▼
Forest of Fontainebleau, 1865
Oil on canvas,
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France ▼
Beach at Sainte-Adresse, 1865
Oil on canvas,
The High Museum of Art at Georgia-Pacific Center, Atlanta, USA ▼
Landscape at Chailly, 1865
Oil on canvas,
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA ▼
The improvised field-hospital, 1865
Oil on canvas,
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France ▼
The pink dress, 1864
Oil on canvas,
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France ▼
Study of flowers, 1866
Oil on canvas, Private collection ▼
Portrait of Édouard Blau, 1866
Oil on canvas,
The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA ▼
Family Reunion, 1867
Oil on canvas,
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France ▼
Landscape of Aigues-Mortes, 1867
Oil on canvas,
Fabre Museum, Montpellier, France ▼
Port of the Queen at Aigues-Mortes, 1867
Oil on canvas,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, USA ▼
Portrait of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1867
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Algiers ▼
View of the village of Castelnau-le-Lez, 1868
Oil on canvas,
Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France ▼
The fisherman with a net, 1868
Oil on canvas,
Foundation Rau pour le Tiers-Monde,
Zürich, Switzerland ▼
Bathers (Summer Scene), 1869
Oil on canvas,
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA ▼
Toilet, 1870
Oil on canvas,
Fabre Museum, Montpellier, France ▼
Negress with peonies, 1870
Oil on canvas,
Fabre Museum, Montpellier, France ▼
The artist’s studio, Rue de la Condamine, 1870
Oil on canvas,
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France ▼
