Artists

George Michel

French, 1763-1843

He came from a humble background, his father being an employee at the market of Les Halles in Paris. At an early age, a farmer general, M. de Chalue, took an interest in him and found him a place with the curate of Veruts, on the plain of Saint-Denis, north of Paris. It was here that he first developed a love of the countryside. In 1775 he was apprenticed to a mediocre history painter called Leduc, but he preferred to go off and sketch out of doors. In order to assist him, M. de Berchigny, Colonel in the Hussars, engaged him in his regiment garrisoned in Normandy and arranged for him to take lessons in art. He remained there for more than a year and then returned to Paris, where he worked with M. de Grammont-Voulgy, who was Steward to the brother of Louis XVI. In 1789 Grammont-Voulgy took him to Switzerland, and Michel also visited Germany, where he stayed with the Duc de Guiche. Georges Michel was a landscape painter who was influenced by the 17th century Dutch artist as he worked for some time as a restorer and copyist of their work. However, his work was based on open-air studies. He lived and worked in Paris and often painted views of the city. Michel did not achieve very much fame during his lifetime but he is now considered an influential figure in the founding of the Barbizon School. George Michel did not sign his paintings or date them stating that the old masters did not sign their works as well.

Artworks in Museum Collections: (40)
Amiens; Beziers; Brest; Carpentras; Moulin; Montreal; Paris ( Musee du Louvre);
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reference:
E.Benizit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, Grund.