Francois Auguste Ravier
French, 1814-1895
Francois Auguste Ravier was born in Lyon, 4 May 1814 and died in Morestel, near Lyon, 26 June 1895. In 1832 he went to Paris to become a notary but, after discovering his love for art, studied with Jules Coignet (1798–1860) and Théodore Caruelle d’Aligny. Between 1840 and 1846 he made several trips to Rome, where he painted oil studies reminiscent of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, such as Villa at Rome (Paris, Louvre).
He finally settled near Lyon (at Crémieu c. 1854; Morestel in 1868) and found his landscape subjects locally. Although he seldom exhibited, he did not isolate himself. He respected Turner, whose work he knew and to whom his work has been compared, particularly in the foreground earth tones and atmospheric effects of his watercolors. He is famous or his luminous paintings.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Charles-François Daubigny and Louis Français were among his friends. In 1884 he lost the sight of one eye but recovered and authorized Boussod & Valadon (his Paris dealers from 1883 to 1886) to submit his watercolors for the first time to the Salon in Paris, where they were accepted that year. He exhibited in many salons including the Universal Exposition. He also received many medals and awards for his works. By 1889 Ravier was totally blind.
