Frederic Bazille

Jean Frédéric Bazille was a French Impressionist artist. Many of his paintings are examples of figure compositions in which Bazille placed the subject figure within a landscape. His work is of interest for its exploration of the effects of light on flesh tones. Much of his work retained a high finish and dark palette (e.g. Black Woman and Peonies, 1870). He was also a portraitist and recorder of the Impressionist scene. Bazille became interested in painting after seeing some works of Eugène Delacroix. His family agreed to let him study painting, but only if he also studied medicine. As a student in Paris he befriended Monet, Renoir, and Sisley. Attracted by the modernist tendencies of avant-garde art, they abandoned the studio in favor of direct observation of nature and gradually invented impressionism. From 1865 to 1866, he shared a studio with Monet and then the following year, shared a studio with Renoir. The work of Bazille was ended by his untimely death during the war of 1870.