Constant Troyon, a 19th century French painter, lived from 1810-1865. He was born in Sèvres where his father worked in the porcelain factory and died when Troyon was 7 years old. His mother having already died, Troyon was left in the charge of his godfather Riocreux, curator of the Sèvres Manufacture, and it was he- and later, Poupart – who taught the child the rudiments of drawing and painting on porcelain.  At an early age, Troyon was put to work at Sèvres.  At the same time, he drew and painted for pleasure, producing a series of youthful landscapes. His early work brought him to the notice of Camille Roqueplan, who introduced him to a group of other young painters of talent including Theodore Rousseau, Paul Huet, Jules Dupré, Diaz de la Peña, Camille Flers and Louis-Nicolas Cabat.

 

Dupré took Troyon under his wing and encouraged him to travel following his debut at the Salon of 1833.  In 1834, he met and was befriended by Huet, whose influence on the young Troyon would prove decisive.   He traveled to Limousin, Brittany and the region around Orleans and, since he was virtually without any means of visible support, underwrote his travels by painting on porcelain wherever he went.  He continued to exhibit regularly at the Salon from 1835, earning a bronze medal in 1838 and a silver in 1840.  1847 saw him in Holland and in Belgium, where he studied the work of Paul Potter and enthused over that of Albert Cuyp. In 1847, Troyon was elected to membership of the academy in Amsterdam and in the same year he was awarded Belgium’s Croix de Leopold.

 

The years from 1848 until his death in 1865 were the most productive and significant in Troyon’s artistic career.  With each passing year, his work grew in confidence and in stature, and he was widely admired. However, real success continued to elude him until some of his friends suggested he might wish to incorporate animal figures and farm life scenes into his landscapes.  From 1844 onwards, he did this and won gold medals in 1846 and 1848.  In 1849, Troyon was elevated to the rank of Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur.  Continuing to exhibit at the Salons of 1850, 1853 and 1855, he secured another gold medal in 1859. 

 

Troyon painted an astonishing number of compositions, running into several hundred, on canvases both large and small. He was preoccupied with capturing reality and accurate light and color in his work.  He died in Paris in 1865.  He is well represented in museums and galleries throughout the world, and his work commands good prices at auction.