Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

A leading exponent of French neoclassicism and the academic tradition, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was born in Montauban in 1780. At the age of ten he began studying art and music in Toulouse. In 1797 he entered the Paris studio of David (q.v.), where he became a favorite pupil and assistant. Barely a year later a dispute prompted Ingres to leave the studio and enroll in the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1801 he won the Prix de Rome, but lack of funds prevented him from departing for Italy until 1806. During fourteen years in Rome and four in Florence, Ingres painted romantic troubadour themes and became an admirer of Raphael. In 1824 he returned to Paris and exhibited at the Salon, where a fierce debate erupted between his supporters and those of Delacroix (q.v.). The controversial Salon of 1824 signaled Ingres's emergence as the leader of the neoclassical movement in France. At that point he effectively assumed the role of his former teacher David, now in exile. In 1833 the French government appointed Ingres vice president of the École des Beaux-Arts and president the following year. In 1834 he accepted the directorship of the French Academy in Rome and spent the next seven years painting and studying antique art in Italy. In 1841 he returned to Paris, where his paintings were greeted with thunderous critical acclaim. A major retrospective at the Exposition Universelle of 1855 confirmed his reputation but also aroused the hostility of young artists opposed to academic rules and conventions. During his later years Ingres continued his bitter rivalry with Delacroix, successfully blocking the latter's admission to the academy until 1857. Ingres died in 1867, leaving behind a circle of followers and a remarkable drawing style that was to inspire later artists, including Degas (q.v.) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).