Jean Baptiste Édouard Detaille (1848 - 1912)
Jean Baptiste Édouard Detaille
Jean-Baptiste Édouard Detaille was a French academic painter and military artist noted for his precision and realistic detail. He was regarded as the "semi-official artist of the French army". Detaille made his debut as an artist at the Salon—the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts—of 1867 with a painting of Meissonier's studio. At the Salon of 1868, he exhibited his first military painting, The Drummers Halt, which was based solely on his imagination of the French Revolution. Detaille enlisted in the 8th Mobile Bataillon of the French Army when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870; by November he was seeing and experiencing the realities of war. This experience allowed him to produce his famed portraits of soldiers and historically accurate depictions of military manoeuvres, uniforms, and military life in general. He eventually became the official painter of the battles. He published a book called L'Armée Française in 1885, which contains over 300 line drawings and 20 color reproductions of his works.
| Date and place of birt: | 5 october 1848, Paris, France |
|---|---|
| Date and place of death: | 24 december 1912, Paris, France |
| Nationality: | France |
| Period of activity: | XIX, XX century |
| Specialization: | Animalist, Artist, Batalist, Illustrator, Landscape painter, Painter |
| Genre: | Animalistic, Genre art, Military art, Landscape painting, Portrait |
| Art style: | Academism, Realism |
| Technique: | Color pencil, Gouache, Pencil, Charcoal, Oil, Oil on canvas, Oil on panel, Pastel, Watercolor |
