Vernet Family

French painters of the 18th and 19th centuries.

(Claude) Joseph Vernet. Born Aug. 14, 1714, in Avignon; died Dec. 3, 1789, in Paris. He painted landscapes, primarily marine (the series French Ports, 1753-63, Louvre, Paris), in which Claude Lorraine’s traditions of the classical landscape are combined with the romantic elements of storms, sunsets, and moonlit nights; and decorative quality is combined with an interest in light and air.

Carle (Antoine Charles Horace) Vernet. Born Aug. 14, 1758, in Bordeaux; died Nov. 27, 1836, in Paris. Son and pupil of Joseph Vernet. He gained fame with his caricatures of the fashionable men and women of the time of the Directory and with his drawings of horses; during the years of the Empire he became the official battle artist and historiographer of Napoleon’s army.

(Emile Jean) Horace Vernet. Born June 30, 1789, in Paris; died there Jan. 17, 1863. Son and pupil of Carle Vernet, a painter of historical and battle scenes. He enjoyed the continuous favor of the ruling class and the bourgeoisie, owing to the combination in his pictures of official splendor, superficial romantic effects (melodramatic enthusiasm, oriental exoticism), and naturalism. In 1836 and 1842-43, he worked in Russia.