Narcisse-Virgile Diaz de la Peña

NARCISSE-VIRGILE DIAZ de la PEÑA (Bordeaux, 1807 - Menton, 1876).
"Landscape".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 25 x 30 cm; 48 x 53 cm (frame).

Orphaned at the age of ten, fortune was not very kind to him in his childhood. A reptile bit his foot in the forest of Meudon near Sèvres, where he had settled with some friends of his mother. The wound it inflicted did not heal well and his leg was amputated. Later his wooden leg became quite famous. At the age of 15, he entered the Sèvres studios, where he took up porcelain decoration. He also began to paint figures in richly colored dresses; he was interested in Turkish and Oriental scenes and many of his best works correspond to this period.

At first he began painting figures, but later he would paint mostly landscapes. He is often associated with the painters of the Barbizon school. By 1831, he met Théodore Rousseau, for whom he professed great veneration (Rousseau was four years younger), but it was not until ten years later that Rousseau taught him his techniques. At Fontainebleau, Diaz found Rousseau painting his woodland pictures and decided to imitate him. Rousseau, then in rather poor health, was almost inaccessible, secluded himself in his house, and spent his time ranting against the world. Díaz used to follow him stealthily into the forest to observe him and learn about his painting technique; later Díaz became friends with Rousseau, to whom he revealed his eagerness to learn about his technique, and Rousseau, overwhelmed by his admiration, decided to teach him. Diaz exhibited at the Paris Salon and was decorated in 1851. During the Franco-Prussian War, he settled in Brussels. From 1871, he did not stop working, his work began to become fashionable and became very popular with collectors. In 1876 he died in Menton, where he had gone to recover from a cold he had caught during the funeral of his son. His most admired works are his forest and storm scenes. Many of the best are in the Louvre and the Wallace Collection, Hertford House. Perhaps his best known works are "The Pearl Fairy" (1857), Louvre; "Evening in the Forest" (1868); "The Storm" and "The Forest of Fontainebleau" (1870) at Leeds. Diaz had no disciples of renown, but he inspired painters such as Léon Richet or Jean-François Millet.