HUBERT ROBERT (1774)

Born in Paris May 22, 1733.
Died in Paris April 15, 1808.

Lanscape painter sometimes called Robert des Ruines because of his many romantic representations of Roman ruins set in indealized surroundings.

Robert went to Rome in 1754, was appointed to the French Academy there and became a friend and associate of the renowned etcher of architectural subjects Giambattista Piranesi.

In 1759 he joined the Abbé de Saint-Non and the French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard in travels through southern Italy and Sicily.
Each man influenced the other´s style but not the other´s choice of subjects.
At the Villa d´Este, Tivoli, Robert produced a quantity of red chalk drawings of ancient buildings in ruined parks animated with small figures.

Returning to Paris in 1765 he became a member of the Academy in 1766.

A gifted decorative artist he based his paintings on his Italian drawings and his popularity was enhanced by exhibitions at the salons from 1767 on.
In addition to Italian landscapes he painted scenes of Ermenonville, Marly-le-Roi and Versailles and of the south of France with its ruined Roman monuments.

He also directed the design of the English garden at Versailles.

Although imprisoned during the French Revolution he continued to work.
He collaborated with Fragonard on a commission for the Musée Français in the Louvre during the 1790s but at the time of his death he was forgotten.