Joseph-Marie Vien

Joseph-Marie Vien
Portrait of Joseph-Marie Vien by Joseph Duplessis, 1784
Born(1716-06-18)18 June 1716
Montpellier, France
Died27 March 1809(1809-03-27) (aged 92)
Paris, France
Resting place
Panthéon, Paris
Known forPainting
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1757; died 1806)​
ChildrenJoseph-Marie Vien the young [fr]
Signature

Joseph-Marie Vien (18 June 1716 – 27 March 1809) was a French painter. He was the last holder of the post of Premier peintre du Roi, serving from 1789 to 1791, before it was abolished during the French Revolution.

Biography

He was born in Montpellier. As a protégé of the Comte de Caylus, he entered the studio of Natoire at an early age and obtained the Prix de Rome in 1745. He used his time at Rome in applying to the study of nature and the development of his own powers all that he gleaned from the masterpieces around him; but his tendencies were so foreign to the reigning taste that, upon his return to Paris, he owed his admission to the academy for his picture Daedalus and Icarus (Louvre) solely to the indignant protests of François Boucher.

In 1757, Joseph-Marie Vien married Marie-Thérèse Reboul, a French painter and engraver, who he also may have taught. Their son Joseph-Marie Vien the young [fr] was born in 1761 and later distinguished himself as a painter as well.

His most notably pupil was Jacques-Louis David, who had been referred to him by Jean-François Boucher in 1767 after refusing to take him on, stating he was too old to teach a young artist. Vien remained David’s primary mentor during his years of study at the French Royal Academy, through his three losses and achievement of the Prix de Rome in 1774. David’s first loss was directly due to the intervention of Vien, after his student had submitted without seeking his permission. In 1775, at the height of Vien’s established reputation, he was appointed director of the French Academy in Rome, David was among the pupils who traveled with him.

Joseph-Marie Vien died in Paris and was buried in the crypt of the Panthéon. He left behind many brilliant pupils, including François-André Vincent, Jean-Antoine-Théodore Giroust, Jean-Baptiste Regnault, Joseph-Benoît Suvée, Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours, François-Guillaume Ménageot, and Jean-Joseph Taillasson.

Works

Two Women Bathing, Joseph-Marie Vien, 1763, Musée de Cahors Henri-Martin

Notes

  1. ↑ Biography, Villa Medici
  2. 1 2 3 Wikisource One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vien, Joseph Marie". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 50.
  3. ↑ Jeffares, Neil (29 March 2025). "Dictionary of pastellists before 1800" (PDF). Pastels & pastellists. Retrieved 5 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ Auctioned €426,685 on 26 March 2004 Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot.
  5. ↑ Auctioned €401,487 in June 1992 by Sotheby's Monaco.

Sources

Further reading