Art Talk: Fredric Bazille

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Today's artist highlight is Fredric Bazille.

Last week I did post French Impressionist Tour post. Although Fredric Bazille was not an Impressionist I believe that he would have been had he lived through the Franco Prussian War. His painting Woman with Peonies is one of my favorite in the National Gallery of Art in DC.

Frederic Bazille
Young Woman With Peonies, 1870

Frederic Bazille was born in Montpellier, France on December 6, 1841. He came from a wealthy family and had access to great art early in his life and was generous with his wealth.

When he was 18 he moved to Paris to study medicine. He met Auguste Renior and Alfred Sisley and soon began taking art classes. He failed his medical exam in 1864 at the age of 23 and began art full time. He also became good friends with Claude Monet and Edouard Manet. In 1865 he was sharing a studio with Monet and traveled to Fontainebleau to pose for Monet's Luncheon on the Grass.

Frederic painted around 60 paintings in his short career, from 1864 to 1870.

Young Woman With Peonies which is shown above was painted in 1870. This was also the year he died in battle. He joined the army in August 1870 a month after the start of the Franco Prussian war at the age of 28 and he died..

He was good friends with many of the Impressionist painters and I like to think he would have joined them in showing at The Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, ect. that came to be known as the First impressionist show in 1874.

For a great lecture on Frederic Bazille and the exhibition the National Gallery of Art did in 2017 I am including the link. It is an hour long lecture but well worth listening if you are interested in learning more about Frederic Bazille.

After doing this research I want to go to Montpellier, in Southern France and see his hometown and the art there in in Paris at the Musee de Orsay.

Sources
Wikepedia- Frederic Bazille
The Art Story- Frederic Bazille
Lecture: Introduction to the Exhibition: Frederic Bazille and the Birth of Impressionism