{{Short description|French painter (1810–1893)}} {{more citations needed|date=November 2014}} [[File:Garcin-Courdouan.jpg|thumb|185px|Vincent Courdouan; portrait by Louis Garcin (fl.1860s/80s)]] '''Joseph Vincent François Courdouan''' (7 March 1810 {{ndash}} 8 December 1893) was a French painter who specialized in [[marine art]].
== Biography == [[File:Combat du Romulus mg 5098.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Battle of the [[French ship Romulus (1812)|Romulus]] (1848)]] His father was a [[farrier]] and veterinarian. He began his artistic studies at the age of twelve with the local artist [[Pierre Letuaire]]. Later, he spent some time at the "École des Beaux-Arts de la Marine", a small school under the direction of the naval sculptor [[Jacques-Félix Brun]].<ref name="T">[http://www.toulon.fr/laissez-seduire/article/vincent-courdouan Brief biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923064744/https://www.toulon.fr/laissez-seduire/article/vincent-courdouan |date=2022-09-23 }} @ the Ville de Toulon website.</ref> In 1829, he went to Paris where he studied engraving and worked in the studios of the painter [[Jean-Baptiste Paulin Guerin|Paulin Guérin]], who was also originally from Toulon.
After completing his studies, he returned home and, in 1833, became a member of the Académie du Var,<ref name="T" /> a group that promotes the arts and sciences in that region and can boast of many prominent members; including [[André-Marie Ampère]], [[Louis Lumière]] and [[Georges-Eugène Haussmann]]. Three years later, he was back in Paris with his first exhibition at the [[Salon (Paris)|Salon]], where he continued to exhibit, winning a Third Class Medal in 1838 for his watercolors and [[pastels]].
===First successes=== In 1840, he began accepting students; these included the etcher [[Charles Meryon]]. He travelled to Naples in 1844. The following year, he turned more to oil painting and exhibited widely throughout France, notably in [[Lyon]]. In 1847, he visited Algeria and achieved a gold medal at the [[Salon of 1848]] for his painting "Battle of the Romulus".<ref name="T" /> This recognition was a major factor in his receiving a Professorship at the "École de la Marine de Toulon" in 1849. Three years later, he was awarded the [[Légion d’Honneur]].<ref>[http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/leonore_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_1=NOM&VALUE_1=COURDOUAN&NUMBER=5&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28COURDOUAN%29%20%3aNOM%20%29&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P&SPEC=9&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=1&MAX3=100&DOM=All Documentation] @ the Base Léonore.</ref>
He was named Honorary Director of the {{ill|Musée d'art de Toulon|fr}} in 1857 and, five years later, was admitted into the [[Félibrige]] (an [[Occitans|Occitan]] cultural association) by its founder, [[Frédéric Mistral]]. The following year, at the age of 53, he married one of his students.
He continued to exhibit and travel widely for many years (including a trip to Egypt in 1866). He had his last showing at the Salon in 1883 and his last major exhibitions at [[Hyères]] and [[Aix-en-Provence]] in 1886. He died in the same house where he had been born.<ref name="T" /> [[File:(Narbonne) Embarquement des zouaves partant d'Alger pour la Crimée - Vincent Courdouan.jpg|thumb|325px|Embarkation of the [[Zouave]]s leaving Algiers for the Crimea (1855)]]
==References== {{reflist}}
== Further reading == * Jean-Roger Soubiran, ''Autour de Vincent Courdouan: 1810-1893'', Musée d'Art Toulon (1993) {{ISBN|2-905076-36-4}} * Brigitte Gaillard et al., ''Catalogue de l'exposition Vincent Courdouan'', held from 27 October 2000 to 4 February 2001 at the Musée d'Art de Toulon. {{ISBN|2-950647-94-4}} * Brigitte Gaillard, ''L'Algérie et l'Egypte: Vincent Courdouan et ses contemporains provençaux'', exhibition catalog, Musée d'Art Toulon (2010) {{ISBN|2-905076-74-7}}
== External links == {{commons category|Vincent Courdouan}} * [http://carnet-escale.chez-alice.fr/Oeil_du_marin/Peinture/Courdou.htm Biographical sketch and appreciation] @ Carnet d'escale * [http://www.artnet.fr/artistes/vincent-joseph-fran%c3%a7ois-courdouan/r%c3%a9sultats-de-ventes ArtNet: more works by Courdouan]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Courdouan, Vincent}} [[Category:1810 births]] [[Category:1893 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century French painters]] [[Category:French male painters]] [[Category:French marine artists]] [[Category:Artists from Toulon]] [[Category:Painters from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur]] [[Category:19th-century French male artists]]