Alexandre-Marie COLIN (1798 – 1873)

Parisian painter of French Romanticism.

The painting presents a winter genre scene, with a neat and dynamic composition. At first glance, one is moved by the blanket of snow and the children’s play; you could almost hear the muffled sound of their footsteps. The painter’s technique serves the solidity of the composition.

Colorful beanies have various patterns, faces take on different expressions, and gestures echo each other like perfect choreography. The painter details the group busy pulling the sled, the effort of each is underlined by the ascending diagonal.

At second glance, the game becomes more detailed. The child sitting on the sled wears pretty shoes and a warm coat. Beside him a little girl, elegantly muffled, looks at him and talks to him. Among the children pulling the improvised carriage, some have clogs on their feet and makeshift coats. Colin gives another tone to children’s play, whose roles take up the rules of society and their parents.

Alexandre-Marie Colin painted with the Romantics. Pupil of Anne-Louis Girodet, he became a painter of history, genre, portrait and landscape. We know of him a few lithographs and drawings.

A great friend of Delacroix, figurehead of French Romanticism, and of Richard Bonington, one of the most important English romantic painters of his time, Colin took part in the Parisian Salons from 1819 until the end of his career. He was medalist and rewarded from 1824 to 1840, painted the decor of the church of Saint-Roch in 1851 and was appointed professor of drawing at the Beaux-Arts in Nîmes when he reached maturity.

Posterity has often confused certain paintings by Delacroix with those by Colin. From the artist, we remember his portraits of the Parisian high society, painters (for example, the Portrait of Géricault, 1924) and actors in stage costume. Otherwise, he painted landscapes of Italy and paintings of the history of the struggle for Greek independence, inspired by the poetic masterpieces of Lord Byron.

Bibliography :

• Emmanuel Bénézit, “Dictionary of painters, sculptors, designers and engravers”, t. 3, Paris, Librairie Gründ, 1976, p. 772

• Michel Nicolas, “History of the artists, painters, sculptors, architects and musician-composers of the Gard department”, Nîmes, Imprimerie Ballivet, 1859, p. 14-15

• “Catalogue of paintings and copies of Alexandre Colin, history painter, knight of the Legion of Honor and antique furniture, porcelain, earthenware, costumes, fabrics, various objects that furnished his studio, the sale of which will take place following his death on Wednesday February 2, 1876”, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 1876, p. I-XII

Museums :

• Paris ; Louvre Museum Department of Paintings; Louvre Museum Department of Graphic Arts; Matignon hotel. Versailles, National Museum of the Palaces of Versailles and Trianon; north wing of ministers; Lambinet Museum.

• In the provinces: Rouen, Rouen Fine Arts Museum. Dijon; Magnin National Museum. Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue; maritime museum of Tatihou Island. Autún; Rolin Museum. Sweet whipped cream ; Conde Museum. Towers; Museum of Fine Arts. Dijon; Museum of Fine Arts.

• Internationally: Munich, Florence.