Alexander G. DeCamps

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Alexander G. DeCamps

French, 1803-1860

BiographyAlong with Delacroix and Gericault, Alexandre Gabriel DeCamps is one of France's most esteemed Romanticist artists. He studied art in a variety of studios, including those of Ingres and David, but rebelled against academic traditions at a young age. First establishing himself as a painter of animals, genre scenes, figure studies and landscapes, DeCamps receieved medals from the Paris Salon in 1831 and 1834. A constant traveler, he spent some years in the south of France, Switzerland, Italy, and the Levant. It was in the East , however, that he found the subjects most suited to his genius, and his Orientalist images were the first of a class in which there were many artistic followers throughout the nineteenth century. Many of Alexandre DeCamps' Orientalist views were based upon his trips to Turkey or Smyrna.

Like Delacroix, Alexandre Gabriel DeCamps was also an accomplished etcher and lithographer. many of his lithographs are satirical in nature and were published in Paris by La Caricature. In both technique and content they have often been compared to the art of Daumier. His etchings, however, with their strong tonal values and bold hatchings, are more comparable to his famous paintings.

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