ALPHONSE

See also:

• MARIE

MARIE DE

See also:

• ALPHONSE MARIE DE NEUVILLE (1836-1885)

NEUVILLE (1836-1885)  , French painter, was born, the son of wealthy parents, at Saint-Omer, France, on the 31st of May 1836 . From school he went to college, where he took his degree of bachelier es lettres . In spite of the opposition of his family he entered the naval school at Lorient, and it was here, in 1856, that his artistic instincts first declared themselves . After being discouraged by several painters of repute, he was admitted to work in Picot's studio . He did not remain there long, and he was painting by himself when he produced his first picture, " The Fifth Battalion of Chasseurs at the Gervais Battery (Malakoff)." In 186o de Neuville painted an " Episode of the taking of Naples by Garibaldi " for the Artists' Club in the Rue de Provence, and sent to the Salon in 1861 " The Light Horse Guards in the Trenches of the Mamelon Vert." He also illustrated Le Tour du monde and Guizot's History of France . At the same time he painted a number of remarkable pictures: " The Attack in the Streets of Magenta by Zouaves and the Light Horse " (1864), " A Zouave Sentinel " (1865), " The Battle of San Lorenzo " (1867), and " Dismounted Cavalry crossing the Tchernaia " (1869) . In these he showed peculiar insight into military life, but his full power was not reached till after the war of 1870 . He then aimed at depicting in his works the episodes of that war, and began by representing the " Bivouac before Le Bourget " (1872) . His fame spread rapidly, and was increased by " The Last Cartridges " (1873), in which it is easy to discern the vast difference between the conventional treatment of military subjects, as practised by Horace Vernet, and that of a man who had lived through the life he painted . In 1874 the " Fight on a Railroad " was not less successful, and was followed by the " Attack on a House at Villersexel " (1875) and the " Railway Bridge at Styring " (1877) . In 1878 the painter exhibited (not at the Great Exhibition) " Le Bourget," the " Surprise at Daybreak," " The Intercepted Despatch-bearer," and a considerable number of drawings . He also exhibited in London some episodes of the Zulu War .

In 1881 he was made an officer of the

Legion of Honour for " The Cemetery of Saint-Privat " and " The Despatch-bearer." During these years de Neuville was at work with Detaille on an important though less artistic work, " The Panorama of Rezonville." De Neuville died in Paris on the 18th of May 1885 . At the sale of his works the state purchased for the Luxembourg the " Bourget " and the " Attack on a Barricaded House," with a water-colour " The Parley," and a drawing of a " Turco in Fighting Trim." See Montrosier, Les Peintres militaires (Paris, 1881), "De Neuville," in Gazette des beaux arts (Paris, 1885) .