Antoine Vollon

Antoine Vollon (23 April 1833 – 27 August 1900) was a French realist artist, best known as a painter of still lifes, landscapes, and figures. During his lifetime, Vollon was a successful celebrity, enjoyed an excellent reputation, and was called a "painter's painter."

Family and early years Vollon was born the son of an ornamental craftsman in Lyon, France. He taught himself to paint. He began an apprenticeship to an engraver in metal, and studied under Jehan Georges Vibert at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon from 1850 to 1853 to become a printmaker. He then worked at decorating enamelled pans and stoves.

Paris and becoming a painter In 1859 he moved to Paris, with the intention of becoming a painter. There he became a student of Théodule Ribot Vollon aspired to paint figures and not only still lifes which were the lowest acceptable genre for the Salon. and received universally great reviews. writing for Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide: "At a single blow, Manet's rapier wit exposed the still-life/figure paradox and Vollon was banished once again to an unshakable identity as a painter of still life."

Amongst his collectors Alexandre Dumas jr, Antoine Lumière, Auguste Pellerin, Norbert Pain, the stockbroker Theodore-Charles Gadala, docteur Marchand, Mme Carcano and the Earl of Salisbury (once the UK Secretary of Foreign Affairs) were the most publicly known.

Jean-Baptiste Olive's (1848-1936) still lifes were influenced by his works. Vollon also had students, among whom were Raymond Allègre (1857-1933), Joseph Garibaldi (1863-1941), Henri Michel-Lévy (1845-1914), Théo Mayan (1860-1936) and Gustave le Sénéchal de Kerdréoret (1840-1933).

He became a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1870, He was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1897. In 1900 he was awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris World's Fair.

In July of that same year Vollon suffered a stroke while painting at Versailles and later caught a fever. He died shortly thereafter, on 27 August 1900, at the age of 67. He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris.

His son Alexis Vollon (1865–1945) also became a painter.

Two streets in France are named for him: Rue Antoine Vollon in Bessancourt and in Paris, whilst an intersection with a fountain in Lyon is named Place Antoine Vollon.

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