Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier
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Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891) was a French painter and sculptor who became the most highly paid artist in 19th-century France, famous for meticulously detailed military paintings and Napoleonic subjects. His small-scale canvases featuring soldiers, cavalrymen, and historical scenes commanded enormous prices.
Meissonier's obsessive attention to detail led him to build model battlefields and study horses in motion. He was instrumental in founding the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. His reputation declined sharply after the Impressionists changed the direction of French art.
Sculptures by Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier
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About Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier
Meissonier was famous for meticulously detailed military paintings, especially Napoleonic subjects. He was the highest-paid artist in 19th-century France before the Impressionists overtook academic tastes.
Major works are at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Wallace Collection in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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