(also known as Benjamin Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 - 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits. Benjamin-Constant was born in Paris. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel. A journey to Morocco in 1872 strongly influenced his early artistic development and lead him to produce Romantic scenes under the spell of Orientalism. Among his noted works in this vein are Last Rebels, Justice in the Harem (both in the Luxembourg Gallery), Les Cherifas, and Moroccan Prisoners (Bordeaux). His large canvas, The Entrance of Mahomet II into Constantinople (Toulouse Museum), received a medal in 1876. After 1880, he changed his manner, devoting himself to mural decorations and to portraits. Prominent examples include the great plafond in the Hôtel de Ville, Paris, entitled Paris Convening the World; his paintings in the New Sorbonne, representing Literature, The Sciences, and the Academy of Paris; and the plafond of the Opera Comique theatre. He was distinguished as a portrait painter, especially in England, where he was a favorite of the aristocracy. His portrait Mons fils Andra (Luxembourg) was awarded a medal of honor at the Salon in 1896. Benjamin-Constant painted Pope Leo XIII, Queen Alexandra of England (1901), Lord John Lumley-Savile, and Henri Blowitz (1902). He was made a member of the Institute in 1893, and was a commander of the Legion of Honor. He visited the United States several times, and painted a number of portraits. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York owns a large mural decoration by Benjamin-Constant entitled Justinian in Council.   Related Paintings of Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant :. | Queen Herodiade | The Empress Theodora at the Colisseum | Odalisque | Harem Scene | Portrait of an Arab Woman |
Related Artists:
Gerard ter Borch the Younger
painted Mother Combing the Hair of Her Child. in 1652
Carl Haag
1820 - 1915 German painter, active in Britain. After studying in Nuremberg, he painted miniature portraits in Munich and Brussels. In 1847 he went to London to study English techniques of watercolour painting and evolved a method that he claimed achieved the 'brilliancy of oil painting, combined with the tender-sweetness of water-colours' . From 1850 he exhibited at the Society of Painters in Water-Colours and was elected a full member in 1853.
ralph neville
earl of westmorland and his chidren. c 1410-30