Loubon Emile Charles Joseph

Biography

Loubon Émile Charles Joseph, born January 12, 1809 in Aix-en-Provence and died May 3, 1863 in Marseille, is a French painter renowned for his Provençal landscapes. Son of a wealthy merchant, he studied drawing under the direction of Jean-Antoine Constantin, François Marius Granet and Louis Mathurin Clérian, the latter having the strongest influence on him.
Read more
In 1829, Granet invited him to Rome for a study trip where he excelled in outdoor drawing, which led him to devote himself exclusively to painting. In Paris, he met painters such as Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps and Camille Roqueplan, whose pupil he became. Loubon won his first medal at the Salon of 1833 and, in 1843, he received a commission from the Ministry of the Interior to produce "Le Panorama de Martigues".
Returning to Aix in 1845, he was appointed director of the École pratique de dessin de Marseille, where he encouraged a more natural approach to live models. In 1846, he founded the first salon of the Cercle des amis des arts, exhibiting works by renowned artists. In 1849, he travelled to the Orient to seek inspiration for new subjects.
In 1853, he presented three paintings at the Paris Salon, including "View of Marseille taken from the Aygalades". Despite his talents, Loubon was marked by years of illness and a certain bitterness towards his contemporaries. He died on May 3, 1863 of intestinal cancer and is buried in the Saint-Pierre cemetery in Marseille, where a column decorated with a bust commemorates him.