Claude Jospeh Vernet

About Vernet

• A prominent French painter during the 18th Century

• Lived: 1714 – 1789 (75yrs)

• Son of a painter who was his first teacher.• Helped his father with decorative paintings on

sedan chairs until it became too mundane.

• Commissioned by French King Luis XV, Vernet created a series of 24 paintings for the most popular French harbors.

• Created paintings for French aristocracy and clients all over Europe (England, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Swiss).

Artist’s Style

• Paintings often consisted of landscapes and moonlight scenes often depicting storm scenes, shipwrecks, and harbors.

• Was influenced by classical landscape artist, Claude and Gaspard Dughet as well as topograpical painter, Giovanni Paolo Panini.

Interesting Fact!

In a Sherlock Holmes story, Sherlock claimed that his grandmother was

Vernet’s sister.

SPSU’s Vernet Painting

A Sporting Contest on the Tiber at Rome

A Sporting Contest on the tiber at rome, 1750

SPSU Placement: 2nd Floor, Room 256http://guides.spsu.edu/content.php?pid

=262072&sid=2163577

Interesting Fact: Both Vernet and his wife are included in the painting,

presumed to be in the bottom right corner.

Painting Details

• Title: A Sporting Contest on the Tiber at Rome

• Date Created: 1750

• Medium: Oil on Canvas (SPSU’s is a reproduction)

• Commissioned by: Marquis de Villette in 1949

• Location of Painting: in Rome between the bridge and Castle of Sant’ Angelo on the Tiber River.

The painting depicts a jousting contest, although the exact occasion is unknown.

Seaports, Storms, and Moonlights

Gallery of Work

A Seastorm, 1752

Shipwreck, 1759At: Groeninge Museum, Bruges

Mediterranean Harbor Scene, 1760At: Getty Center Los Angles

La Rochelle harbour, 1762At: Musee de la Marine

A storm on a Mediterranean coast, 1767

At: Getty Center Los Angles

Seascape Moonlight, 1772

The Shipwreck, 1772At: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C

The Morning, 1774At: National Museum, Warsaw

“He has stolen Nature's secret; whatever she produces, Vernet can

recreate.”

Denis Diderot, reviewing the Salon of 1763

Works Cited

• "Claude Joseph Vernet." Claude Joseph Vernet. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.art-directory.info/fine-art/claude-joseph-vernet-1714/>.

• "Claude Joseph Vernet." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Joseph_Vernet>.

• "Claude-Joseph Vernet (Getty Museum)." Claude-Joseph Vernet (Getty Museum). N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=3644>.

• "Claude-Joseph Vernet." The National Gallery, London: Western European Painting 1250–1900. The National Gallery, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/claude-joseph-vernet>.

• "The Encyclopaedia Britannica : A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information." The Encyclopaedia Britannica : A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.archive.org/stream/encyclopaediabri27chisrich>.