Achille Emperaire

Achille Empéraire (1829–1898) was a French painter.

Biography

Early life Achille Empéraire was born with dwarfism and a hunchback on 16 September 1829 in Aix-en-Provence. He took drawing lessons in Aix from 1844 to 1856.

From 1857 onwards, he would often go to Paris and started attending Thomas Couture's school there. It is only thanks to Joseph Ravaisou's son that some paintings are still there to be seen. By serendipity, he was commissioned a painting for the Louvre Museum and earned 1.000 francs for it, a hefty sum at the time. This money enabled him to pay for some debts and for his trip back to Aix in October 1873. It was only in 1873 that he met Joachim Gasquet in Aix, who would turn out to be Emperaire's best friend up until his death.

Although he went back to Paris in 1881 and again in 1882, when he was honoured with becoming a member of the Société libre des Artistes français, he would hardly leave Aix from 1873 onwards, living at 2, place des Prêcheurs. While in Aix, he liked to go painting in Le Tholonet. someone who, on his deathbed, still had faith in "the beauty, the art and the genius of the world".

Although he met Paul Cézanne, who became a close friend of his, at the Académie Suisse in Paris in 1861, he rejected his style. Indeed, for his nudes and landscapes, he preferred to use thick material. He had a passion for Titian and Édouard Manet.

Personal life He resided in an apartment at 16, rue Émeric-David in Aix. Portrait of Achille Emperaire, by Paul Cézanne. Musée d'Orsay, oil on canvas.

He died on 8 January 1898.

Paintings Nu couché Baigneuse de Saul (au revers un autoportrait) Portrait de femme en buste (au revers un nu couché) Paysage de la campagne d'Aix Nature morte ou pichet (au revers deux amazones traversant un bois) Nature morte aux pêches ainsi que plusieurs dessins