JOSEPH

See also:

• MARIE

MARIE

See also:

• JOSEPH MARIE VIEN (1716-1809)

VIEN (1716-1809)  , French painter, was born at Montpellier on the 18th of June 1716 . Protected by Comte de Caylus, he entered at an early age the studio of Natoire, and obtained the grand prix in 1745 . He used his time at Rome in applying to the study of nature and the development of his own powers all that he gleaned from the masterpieces around him; but his tendencies were so foreign to the reigning taste that on his return to Paris he owed his admission to the academy for his picture " Daedalus and Icarus " (Louvre) solely to the indignant protests of Boucher . When in 1776, at the height of his established reputation, he became director of the school of France at Rome, he took David with him amongst his pupils . After his return, five years later, his fortunes were wrecked by the Revolution; but he undauntedly set to work, and at the age of eighty (1796) carried off the prize in an open government competition . Bonaparte acknowledged his merit by making him a senator . He died at Paris on the 27th of March 1809, leaving behind him several brilliant pupils, amongst whom were Vincent, Regnault, Suvee, Menageot, Taillasson and others of high merit; nor should the name of his wife, Marie Therese Reboul (1728-1805), herself a member of the academy, be omitted from this list . Their son, Marie Joseph, born in 1761, also distinguished himself as a painter .