Jean François Gigoux

JEAN FRANÇOIS GIGOUX (Besanzon, 1806-Paris, 1894).
"Gentleman of the seventeenth century".
Oil on panel.
Presents informative label on the back.
Measurements: 36 x 25 cm; 40 x 30 cm (frame).
Jean François Gigoux was a French painter, lithographer, illustrator and art collector. He began his artistic studies at the École régionale des beaux-arts in Besançon, later transferring to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1828, where he studied with Théodore Géricault and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, who helped him finance a study trip to Italy. In 1831, he made his debut at the Salon of 1831. In 1833, he became a contributor to Le Magasin pittoresque. Two years later, he produced several hundred woodcuts for Alain-René Lesage's Gil Blas, which brought him great notoriety. He was named Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1842. He died in Paris in 1894, having bequeathed more than 3000 drawings and 460 paintings to the Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology of Besançon, which made him one of its four major donors.