Born in 1756, Robert Lefévre began his career as a self-taught
painter, and only in 1784 entered the studio of Jean-Baptiste Regnault
in Paris. After several years of allegoric and mythology subjects he switched
to portraiture, where he had success. He participated in Salons 1791-1827.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Dominique-Vivant Denon, who was appointed
the Director General of Museums in 1802, Robert Lefévre obtained
numerous commissions from Napoleon.
His career went on with Louis XVIII, to whom he became the court painter.
He died in Paris in 1830.
Dominique-Vivant Denon
(Chalon-sur-Saône, 4 January 1747 - Paris, 27 April 1825), baron,
is an outstanding figure in the world of arts in France at the end of the
18th and the beginning of the 19th century. He was a draftsman, engraver,
and author; he was a diplomat (undertook diplomatic missions for Louis
XVI to Russia, Switzerland, and Naples), collector, and Director General
of Museums, one of the organizers of the Napoleon Museum, today the Louvre
Museum. He lived through many different regimes and met different famous
people of the time, Diderot, Voltaire, Robespierre, Joséphine and
Napoleon Bonaparte are among them.
See: Robert Lefèvre. Dominique-Vivant
Denon with a Work by Poussin.
Pierre-Paul Prud'hon. Portrait
of Baron Vivant Denon (1747-1825).
Chicherin, Peotr Alexandrovich (1778-1848),
major-general, from 1809 commanded the Life Guard Dragoon regiment, participated
in the Napoleonic wars of 1812-1814, was married to Princess Alexandra
Alexeevna Kurakina.
See: Robert Lefèvre. Portrait
of Peotr Chicherin.
Alexey Venetsianov. Portrait
of the Commander of the Dragoon Regiment P. A. Chicherin.
Bezborodko, Andrei Ilyich (c.1780s -
c. 1855) ,Count, son of major-general Count Ilya Andreevich Bezborodko
(1756-1815).
See: Robert Lefèvre. Portrait
of Count Andrei Bezborodko.
Bibliography:
French Painting. XIX century. by V. Berezina. Moscow. Izobrazitelnoe
Iskusstvo. 1980. (in Russian)
The Classical Tradition in European Painting. 15-20 centuries.
Moscow. 1985. (in Russian)
Famous Russians in the 18th and 19th Centuries. St. Petersburg.
1996.
Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Chambers Harrap Publishers
Ltd. 1996.
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