Antoine-Jean Gros · 1771–1835
Antoine-Jean Gros
Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835) was a French painter. As David's successor he served as Napoleon's official painter, and worked between Neoclassicism and Romanticism.
Antoine-Jean Gros is regarded as the successor of David, the leading Neoclassical painter. He entered David's studio at 14. He won Napoleon's notice and, as an official painter, depicted him, becoming a great voice of the Napoleonic epic.
Later he came to head his teacher's studio and became the leading figure of David's school. At the same time he was drawn to the brilliant color and vital energy of Romanticism, then on the rise. In his later years he is said to have been troubled by the conflict with his own Romantic inclinations, and to have tried to drown himself in the Seine. In Japan, his Portrait of Louis-Eugène Dechuguyoin, a cavalry officer, is held.
Antoine-Jean Gros was born on March 16, 1771 and died on June 25, 1835.
