Vincent Courdouan

Joseph Vincent François Courdouan (7 March 1810 8 December 1893) was a French painter who specialized in marine art.

Biography

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. In 1829, he went to Paris where he studied engraving and worked in the studios of the painter 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,

He was named Honorary Director of the in 1857 and, five years later, was admitted into the Félibrige (an 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.