Victor Charreton
Bourgoin-Jallieu, 1864 - Clermont-Ferrand, Francia, 1936
Charreton's figure fits well into the landscape school of the Lyon tradition with its taste for impastos, its search for momentary effects, hours and seasons. Curiosity drove him to capture perfectly the spirit of the places he visited. In 1931 he inaugurated the Bourgoin Museum to which he donated twenty works; the museum would later change its name to the Victor Charreton Museum. In 1972 the Montmartre Museum organized a posthumous retrospective exhibition for him.
He spent his childhood in Chaumont studying at the Collège de Bourgoin and dabbling in literature and painting under Ernest Hareux and Louis Japy. In 1885 he began studying law at the Faculty of Grenoble and from 1892 practiced at the Lyon Court of Appeal. In 1902 he gave up his legal career to devote himself entirely to painting and moved to Paris.
Charreton travels extensively throughout Europe: Spain, England, Belgium, Holland, Corsica, Germany and Algeria visiting numerous museums. In 1894 he made his debut at the Lyon Salon and the same year he began exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris where, in 1910 he received an honorable mention, in 1912 a silver medal, and in 1913 a gold medal, also becoming a member of the committee and jury.
He participated in several group exhibitions: Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand, Roubaix, Bordeaux and abroad: New York, Geneva, Barcelona. In 1915 the Georges Petit Gallery in Paris organized a solo exhibition for him. In 1931 he opened the Bourgoin Museum to which he donated twenty works; the museum would later change its name to the Victor Charreton Museum. He is one of the founders of the Salon d'Automne, of which he is appointed secretary general. In 1972 the Montmartre Museum organized a posthumous retrospective exhibition for him; in 1987 and 1989 two other anthological exhibitions, organized in Parisian galleries, remembered the artist.
Charreton's figure fits well into the landscape school of the Lyon tradition with its taste for impastos, its search for momentary effects, hours and seasons. Curiosity drives him to capture perfectly the spirit of the places he visits. He does not limit himself to painting the beautiful tourist places, but seeks their most intimate, most discreet, most humble aspects. Particularly happy in the effects of snow, in the course of his pictorial evolution he deepened his search for the study of light at twilight and sunset, suppressing the less important details to concentrate on the volumes that build the overall composition.
Museums:
Albi, Museo Toulouse-Lautrec
Boston
Bourgoin, Museo Victor Charreton
Carcassonne, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Chambéry, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Charleston;
Clermont-Ferrand, Musée e Hotel-Dieu
Cleveland, Ohio
Concord
Ginevra, Musée du Petit Palais
Grenoble
Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Madrid
Mezt
Narbonne
New York, Brooklyn Museum
Le Nouvelle Orléans
Parigi, Musée d’Orsay, Petit-Palais
Riom
Toulouse, Musée des Augustin.
Bibliography:
Catalogue sommaire illustré des peintures, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Ed. Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1990; Impressionismo e Neo-Impressionisti (Venezia, Museo Correr, 2.9/11.12.1994), Venezia, Ed. Fabbri, 1994; R. Chatin, Victor Charreton, vie et oeuvre, Ed. Robert Chatin, 1995; E. Hardouin-Fugier, E. Grafe, La Peinture Lyonnaise au XIXe siècle, Paris, Les Editions de l’Amateur, 1995 ; Dictionnaire des Peintres à Montmartre, Paris, Ed. André Roussard, 1999; L. Harambourg, Dictionnaire des peintres paysagistes français au XIXe siecle; Neuchâtel, Ides et Calendes, 2001.
Charreton travels extensively throughout Europe: Spain, England, Belgium, Holland, Corsica, Germany and Algeria visiting numerous museums. In 1894 he made his debut at the Lyon Salon and the same year he began exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris where, in 1910 he received an honorable mention, in 1912 a silver medal, and in 1913 a gold medal, also becoming a member of the committee and jury.
He participated in several group exhibitions: Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand, Roubaix, Bordeaux and abroad: New York, Geneva, Barcelona. In 1915 the Georges Petit Gallery in Paris organized a solo exhibition for him. In 1931 he opened the Bourgoin Museum to which he donated twenty works; the museum would later change its name to the Victor Charreton Museum. He is one of the founders of the Salon d'Automne, of which he is appointed secretary general. In 1972 the Montmartre Museum organized a posthumous retrospective exhibition for him; in 1987 and 1989 two other anthological exhibitions, organized in Parisian galleries, remembered the artist.
Charreton's figure fits well into the landscape school of the Lyon tradition with its taste for impastos, its search for momentary effects, hours and seasons. Curiosity drives him to capture perfectly the spirit of the places he visits. He does not limit himself to painting the beautiful tourist places, but seeks their most intimate, most discreet, most humble aspects. Particularly happy in the effects of snow, in the course of his pictorial evolution he deepened his search for the study of light at twilight and sunset, suppressing the less important details to concentrate on the volumes that build the overall composition.
Museums:
Albi, Museo Toulouse-Lautrec
Boston
Bourgoin, Museo Victor Charreton
Carcassonne, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Chambéry, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Charleston;
Clermont-Ferrand, Musée e Hotel-Dieu
Cleveland, Ohio
Concord
Ginevra, Musée du Petit Palais
Grenoble
Lyon, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Madrid
Mezt
Narbonne
New York, Brooklyn Museum
Le Nouvelle Orléans
Parigi, Musée d’Orsay, Petit-Palais
Riom
Toulouse, Musée des Augustin.
Bibliography:
Catalogue sommaire illustré des peintures, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Ed. Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1990; Impressionismo e Neo-Impressionisti (Venezia, Museo Correr, 2.9/11.12.1994), Venezia, Ed. Fabbri, 1994; R. Chatin, Victor Charreton, vie et oeuvre, Ed. Robert Chatin, 1995; E. Hardouin-Fugier, E. Grafe, La Peinture Lyonnaise au XIXe siècle, Paris, Les Editions de l’Amateur, 1995 ; Dictionnaire des Peintres à Montmartre, Paris, Ed. André Roussard, 1999; L. Harambourg, Dictionnaire des peintres paysagistes français au XIXe siecle; Neuchâtel, Ides et Calendes, 2001.
