Horace Vernet Biography | Oil Paintings.
6-30-1789 Paris, FRA – 1-17-1863 Paris, FRA

Emile Jean Horace Vernet was born in the Louvre to the Carle Vernet, who was himself a son of the famous painter Claude Joseph Vernet. He attended Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris entering the studio of the painter François-André Vincent, but Horace Vernet quickly developed a disdain for the high-minded seriousness of French Academic art influenced by Classicism and decided to paint subjects taken mostly from contemporary life.
He gained recognition during the Bourbon Restoration for a progression of battle paintings commissioned by the Duc d'Orleans, who would become the future King Louis-Philippe. Critics marveled at the incredible speed in which he was able to finish a painting with historical accuracy as well as its charged landscape. Examples of Horace Vernet paintings in this style include The Battle of Valmy, The Battle of Jemappes, and the Battle of Montmirail.
At the 1855 Universal Exhibition of Paris, Emile Jean Horace Vernet was given an entire hall to exhibit his oil paintings, and furthermore received the medal of honor, recognized as one of the most important painters of his day.
Through the span of his long career, Horace Vernet was honored with dozens of important commissions. King Louis-Philippe was one of his most prolific patron and supporter. His depictions of the Algerian campaigns, such as The Capture Of Abd Al Qadirs Smahla and The Capture of Constantine, were vivid depictions of the French army in the heat of battle and were well-received by the critics and public alike. During the Revolution of 1848, after the fall of the July Monarchy, Vernet discovered a new patron in Napoléon III.
Horace Vernet continued to paint representations of the heroic French army during the Second Empire of Napoléon III and maintained his commitment to representing war in a truthful and realistic way. One well-known tale maintains that when Vernet was asked to remove an obnoxious general from one of his oil paintings, he replied, "I am a painter of history, sir, and I will not violate the truth," hence demonstrating his fidelity to representing war truthfully. When the French Army was sent off to fight in the Crimean War, he accompanied them and produced several paintings, including one of The Battle of the Alma.
Look at our THEN & NOW photo section. See, the present day location that inspired the famous artist Horace Vernet. We travel the world to find the exact location where the artist set up his easel to paint. We photograph it as it appears today. Now, you can compare side by side photos of the original oil painting and the present-day location.
Art Movement: Romanticism, Orientalism.
Artists Influencing Emile Jean Horace Vernet: François-André Vincent, Carle Vernet.
He Travelled To Algeria, Russia, Egypt, Mexico.
Painters Horace Vernet Influenced: Jean-Paul Gentil, Jules Breton, Pierre Dupuis, Eugène Lami, Émile Lambinet, François-Gabriel Lépaulle.
Artist Biography compiled by Albert L. Mansour at The World's Artist, with text adapted from Wikipedia.
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