Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was born on the 29th of August 1780 in Montauban, France. He grew up as the first of seven children to Joseph Ingres and Anne Moulet. His father worked as a painter of miniatures, a sculptor, and an amateur musician. This household provided early encouragement for drawing and music. The young artist made his first known drawing in 1789, a study after an antique cast. His formal schooling began at the École des Frères de l'Éducation Chrétienne in 1786. Turmoil from the French Revolution disrupted this education. The school closed in 1791, marking the end of his conventional training. This gap in his education remained a source of insecurity throughout his life. In 1791, he moved to Toulouse to enroll in the Académie Royale de Peinture, Sculpture et Architecture. There he studied under Jean-Pierre Vigan, Jean Briant, and Guillaume-Joseph Roques. Roques venerated Raphael, which became a decisive influence on the boy. Ingres won prizes in composition and figure studies. He also developed musical talent under violinist Lejeune. From ages thirteen to sixteen, he played second violin in the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse.
In March 1797, the Academy awarded Ingres first prize in drawing. He traveled to Paris that August to study in the studio of Jacques-Louis David. David was France's leading painter during the revolutionary period. Ingres remained there for four years, following his master's neoclassical example. He entered the painting department of the École des Beaux-Arts in October 1799. He won grand prizes for figure painting in 1800 and 1801. In 1801, he took the top prize with The Ambassadors of Agamemnon in the tent of Achilles. His residence in Rome was postponed until 1806 due to shortage of state funds. While waiting, he worked in a state-provided studio alongside other students. He found inspiration in works by Raphael and English artist John Flaxman. In 1802, he made his debut at the Salon with Portrait of a Woman. Between 1804 and 1806, he painted portraits like Portrait of Philipbert Riviére and Portrait of Caroline Rivière. These featured extreme precision in fabrics but softened female faces. In summer 1806, he became engaged to Marie-Anne-Julie Forestier before leaving for Italy in September. He arrived in Rome on the 23rd of November 1806. He read negative press clippings sent from Paris with mounting indignation. He wrote to Jean Forestier that the Salon was the scene of his disgrace. Critics condemned his style as gothic and asked how he could paint such bad pictures despite flawless lines. This hostility led him to vow never again to exhibit at the Salon.
In 1819, Ingres sent his reclining nude La Grande Odalisque to the Paris Salon. The critic Kératy complained that the figure's back was three vertebrae too long. Charles Landon wrote that the painting had no bones, muscles, blood, or life. He stated the artist deliberately erred to bring back primitive manners. The work was condemned as unnatural and gothic. Despite this, the painting became one of his most famous works. It depicted a woman reclining languorously while a turbaned musician played. The setting was inspired by Persian miniatures and full of exotic detail. The woman's form remained pure Ingres, yet critics found fault with its anatomy. In 1842, he painted a second version called L'Odalisque et l'esclave. This included a landscape background painted by student Paul Flandrin. Théophile Gautier praised the mystery and silence of the seraglio in these works. The original La Grande Odalisque caused scandal long after his death. It was initially offered to the Louvre in 1907 but rejected before being given there in 1911.
In August 1820, Ingres received a commission for a major religious painting for the Cathedral of Montauban. The theme re-established the bond between church and state. His painting The Vow of Louis XIII took four years to complete. He displayed it at the Paris Salon in October 1824. Critics praised the work, though Stendhal complained about material beauty excluding divinity. Adolphe Thiers celebrated the breakthrough of this new style. In January 1825, Charles X awarded him the Cross of the Légion d'honneur. By June 1825, he was elected a member of Académie des Beaux-Arts. Lithographs of La Grande Odalisque published in 1826 found eager buyers. Ingres received 24,000 francs for reproduction rights. This sum was twenty times what he had been paid for the original six years earlier. The success led to a major commission called The Apotheosis of Homer. He intended to decorate the ceiling of one hall in the Museum Charles X at the Louvre. Although unable to finish by the 1827 Salon, he displayed it in grisaille. The public found his portrait of Louis-François Bertin spellbinding when exhibited at the 1833 Salon.
In late 1834, Ingres returned to Rome to become Director of the French Academy. He remained there for six years. He devoted attention to training painting students and re-organized the institution. He increased library size and added molds of classical statues. He assisted students in getting commissions in both Rome and Paris. He traveled to Orvieto, Siena, Ravenna, and Urbino to study paleochristian mosaics and medieval murals. Composer Charles Gounod described Ingres's appreciation of modern music including Weber and Berlioz. He joined music students and friend Niccolò Paganini playing Beethoven's violin works. Stendhal once disparaged Beethoven at the Academy. Ingres turned to the doorman and told him not to let that gentleman return. In 1836, he refused a major commission from Adolphe Thiers to decorate the Church of the Madeleine. The offer had gone first to rival Paul Delaroche who declined it. He completed L'Odalisque et l'esclave in 1839 and The Illness of Antiochus in 1840. The latter was a history painting on love and sacrifice commissioned by the Duc d'Orleans.
In April 1841, Ingres returned definitively to Paris. One of his first works was a portrait of the duc d'Orléans. After the heir died in a carriage accident months later, he received commissions for additional copies. He designed seventeen stained glass windows for the chapel where the accident occurred. He became professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He took students to the Louvre to see classical art while avoiding Rubens. In 1852, then seventy-one years old, he married forty-three-year-old Delphine Ramel. This rejuvenated him. In the following decade, he completed significant works including the portrait of Princesse Albert de Broglie. He began Apotheosis of Napoleon I in 1853 for the Hôtel de Ville ceiling. It was destroyed in May 1871 when the Paris Commune set fire to the building. With assistants, he finished Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII in 1854. A retrospective featured at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1855 confirmed his reputation. In 1862, he completed The Turkish Bath as a tondo. Originally square and sold to Prince Napoleon in 1859, it was returned soon after. Princess Clothilde reportedly shocked by abundant nudity prompted the change. He signed and dated it in 1862 with revisions continuing into 1863. The painting eventually went to Khalid Bey, a Turkish diplomat who owned erotic art.
The rivalry between Ingres and Eugène Delacroix emerged at the Paris Salon of 1824. Ingres exhibited The Vow of Louis XIII while Delacroix showed The Massacre at Chios. Ingres's work was calm and static whereas Delacroix's was turbulent and emotional. The dispute reappeared at the 1827 Salon. Ingres presented L'Apotheose d'Homer while Delacroix displayed The Death of Sardanapalus. Paris artists were passionately divided by this conflict. At the 1855 Universal Exposition, supporters of Delacroix heaped abuse on Ingres. The Brothers Goncourt described Ingres's talent as miserly. They claimed he scattered persons around action centers without true unity. Baudelaire shifted sympathy toward Delacroix, calling Ingres deprived of energetic temperament. Delacroix himself called the exhibition ridiculous and pompous. He stated effort and pretension were everywhere but no spark of naturalness existed. According to student Paul Chenavard, the two painters met amicably on steps of the French Institute later in their careers. They shook hands despite years of public hostility. Modern historians tend to regard Ingres and other Neoclassicists as embodying the Romantic spirit of their time.
In the 20th century, Ingres influenced Picasso and Matisse more strongly than before. An important retrospective held at the Salon d'automne in Paris in 1905 was visited by these artists. The original composition of The Turkish Bath had visible influence on figures in Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in 1907. The exhibit included studies for unfinished mural l'Age d'or showing women dancing in a circle. Matisse produced his own version in La Danse in 1909. The pose and coloring of Portrait of Monsieur Bertin appeared again in Picasso's Portrait of Gertrude Stein from 1906. Barnett Newman credited Ingres as progenitor of abstract expressionism. He explained that Kline and de Kooning would not have existed without him. Pierre Barousse wrote that artists claim him as master from Cabanel to Matisse. Cubists admired his plastic autonomy while Surrealists valued visionary qualities. Herman Braun-Vega dedicated an entire exhibition to Ingres in 2006. One realizes how many ways variety of artists claim him as their master through reinterpretation of natural beauty.
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Common questions
When and where was Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres born?
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was born on the 29th of August 1780 in Montauban, France. He grew up as the first of seven children to Joseph Ingres and Anne Moulet.
What happened when Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres exhibited La Grande Odalisque at the Paris Salon in 1819?
Critics condemned the painting for its unnatural anatomy and gothic style after claiming the figure's back had three vertebrae too long. The work became one of his most famous paintings despite initial rejection by critics like Kératy and Charles Landon.
How did Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres respond to negative press regarding his work in Rome during 1806?
Ingres read negative press clippings sent from Paris with mounting indignation and wrote to Jean Forestier that the Salon was the scene of his disgrace. This hostility led him to vow never again to exhibit at the Salon.
Why is the rivalry between Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix significant in art history?
The conflict emerged at the Paris Salon of 1824 where their opposing styles defined the divide between Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Modern historians regard both painters as embodying the Romantic spirit of their time despite years of public hostility.
Which artists were influenced by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres in the 20th century?
Picasso and Matisse were strongly influenced by an important retrospective held at the Salon d'automne in Paris in 1905. Barnett Newman credited Ingres as the progenitor of abstract expressionism while Cubists admired his plastic autonomy.