Alexandre Defaux

Yport, the cliff of Amont - Normandy

circa 1880

Alexandre Defaux was born in Bercy , then a town on the outskirts of Paris. Mainly known for his oil paintings, Defaux did also practice pastel and watercolor. He was a figure of the second generation of painters of the School of Barbizon in the line of Jean-Baptiste Corot - of whom he was a pupil - and Jean-François Millet. His first landscapes reflect Corot's influence with large urban panoramic views and figures in Neapolitan peasant costume. He is known for his paintings of sunny farmyards filled with quarreling hens or geese. He painted almost exclusively in the region of Barbizon or in Normandy . While much of his work conforms to Barbizon's repertoire of subjects (scenes of agricultural life, domestic animals, undergrowth), Defaux also painted more modern subjects such as scenes of Parisians boating or picnickers in the midst of flocks of sheep. During the 1850s, Defaux painted a number of views of quaint towns in Normandy and large medieval churches, images very popular with both French and foreign tourists. He sent views of quarries around Montmartre and of the undergrowth of the Fontainebleau region to the Salon of 1859. Working on a wide range of motifs, he also adopted stronger color combinations and more pictorial techniques that suggest influences extending to other Barbizon artists such as Théodore Rousseau or Narcisse Díaz de la Peña . Defaux exhibited regularly at the Salon until 1897. He was praised by critics for his skill in handling painters' tools: brush or knife. His Forest of Fontainebleau presented out of competition at the Salon of 1879 was acquired by the French State, as well as his large canvas of the Breton cliffs and the port of Pont-Aven, acquired in 1880. The late 1870s and 1880s seem to have been a period of success for Defaux, with good reviews during the decade of the 1880s. Defaux's work was particularly appreciated for his ability to combine strong pictorial techniques with pleasing and pleasing subjects. a passion for the French countryside. A gold medal was awarded to him at the Universal Exhibition of 1900 . Alexandre Defaux received the insignia of knight of the Legion of Honor in 1881. His works are kept in numerous french museums.