Artist Joseph-Desire Court (1797-1865) | ArtLiveAndbeauty

 

Joseph-Desire Court's Paintings

Joseph-Desire Court was a French portrait painter and historical painter, director of the Museum of Art in Rouen. Joseph-Desire Court belongs to the romantic direction of painting in the form of sentimentalism, popular in Russia, Germany and England. In France, alas!, such romanticism was not in honor. Since French romanticism is violent colors and historical plots of Géricault and Delacroix. Joseph-Desire Court was born in Rouen. Even as a child, by copying the portrait of his mother by the artist Hyacinthe Rigaud, Joseph showed everyone his talent and interest in painting. Therefore, the boy was sent to the municipal drawing school of Jean-Baptiste-Marc-Antoine Descamps, where his first steps in creativity and the study of the basics took place under the guidance of Descamps' son, professor and curator of the Rouen Museum. Joseph has won first place in school competitions more than once. While still studying in Paris, 

"Portrait of the Countess of Pagès, née de Cornellan, as St Catherine" - between 1820 and 1850 by Joseph-Désiré Court

"Portrait of Miss White " - by Joseph-Désiré Court

"Portrait of Yekaterina Scherbatova" - 1840 by Joseph-Désiré Court

"Rouen (Seine-Maritime)" - 1841 by Joseph-Désiré Court

Joseph-Desire Court dreamed of visiting Rome in order to complete his artistic education in classical antiquity. Hope for help, or rather funding, he had no family. At the Academy, he learned that the trip can be made at the expense of the state if you win the so-called Rome competition, to which all students can submit their work. The young self-confident young man promised his friends: “Well! I will win this prize!” And after a couple of years, he fulfilled his promise. With the growing popularity that accompanied his work, Joseph-Desire Court's workshopdidn't stop taking orders. Among his customers were eminent persons - King Louis Philippe himself, his sister Adelaide, the King and Queen of Denmark, Pope Pius IX, Cardinal Prince de Croy, Archbishop Sibur, Marshals Soult and Pelissier and many others .....

"Portrait de la marquise Chasseloup-Laubat, 1831" - by Joseph-Désiré Court

"Portrait of Olga Scherbatova" - 1840s by Artist Joseph-Desire Court

"Au bal masqué (Vénitienne au bal masqué)" - by Joseph-Désiré Court

"Femme divan" - 1829 by Joseph-Désiré Court

"Olga Kalinovskaya" - by Joseph-Désiré Court

Olga Kalinovskaya, Tsarevich Alexander's first love.

Olga Kalinovskaya was born into a noble Polish family. Her mother was from a noble Potocki family, while her father served as a cavalry general. Olga was accepted as a lady-in-waiting and was under the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. Olga was from a family of Polish nobles who supported the Russian emperor, this was the reason for the admission to the staff of court ladies. Soon, Tsesarevich Alexander drew attention to Olga - young people often saw each other in the palace, danced at brilliant balls and masquerades of the Nikolaev era. It was Olga who became the first serious feeling of Alexander Nikolaevich.
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna wrote about her brother's beloved: “She had large dark eyes, but without much expression; there was an undoubted charm in her, but of a feline character, characteristic of Poles, which especially affects men. In general, she was neither smart, nor sentimental, nor witty and had no interests. Her behavior was impeccable and her relations with everyone were excellent, but she was not friendly with anyone. However, as an orphan, left without family advice to live in a society that was considered superficial and frivolous, she should have met with sympathy. And dad ?, who treated young people with fatherly warmth, pitied her with all his heart. Maid of honor Countess A.A. Tolstaya also noted Kalinovskaya's eyes: "The first fire in him was lit by the beautiful eyes of Olga Kalinovskaya, the lady-in-waiting of his sister, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. This young lady, a Pole by origin, was brought up in one of the institutes of St. Petersburg. Lacking beauty, she is said to have been insinuating and agile, and was not slow to turn the head of the future Emperor."
The lovers were inspired by the example of their uncle, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, who married a Polish woman, Jeanette Lovich, and was very happy with her. However, Emperor Nicholas I would never have put up with such a choice of his son. Not only was Olga Kalinovskaya not a princess, she was not Orthodox either. Catholic daughters-in-law The Knight of Autocracy would not tolerate. Measures have been taken. The Tsarevich went on a trip to Europe, in which he had to not so much get acquainted with the sights as to find a bride, a princess. "Sasha left with a heavy heart. He was in love with Olga Kalinovskaya (Polish noblewoman, maid of honor) and was afraid that during his absence she would be married." - writes the sister of the Tsarevich, Olga Nikolaevna.
None of the princesses overshadowed the image of a proud polka in the eyes of the heir, only in Darmstadt did he pay attention to a very young, fifteen-year-old princess with long childlike curls. Maximiliana-Wilhelmina seemed so touching and tender to the Russian Tsesarevich that he proposed to her without hesitation.
However, upon returning to St. Petersburg, an affair with Olga Kalinovskaya flares up with renewed vigor. Since the affair had gone too far, Nikolai Pavlovich had to intervene. “.. He talked to her and told her in simple words,” writes Olga Nikolaevna, “that not only two hearts, but the future of the whole state is at stake.” “... We decided,” Olga Nikolaevna notes, “that Olga should leave the yard.” Kalinovskaya had to put up with it, “Polish relatives accepted her,” the memoirist notes. Alexander, who was then in Mogilev, having learned about this, "fell seriously ill." In St. Petersburg, Olga Kalinovskaya lived on Liteiny Prospekt in the house of her sister Severina, who was married to General Nikolai Fedorovich Plautin. This is probably why contemporaries sometimes mistakenly called her the wife of N. F. Plautin. In fact, Kalinovskaya in 1840 was married to the former husband of her late sister, the richest Polish magnate Ierenei Kleofast Oginsky (Oginsky; 1808-1863). He was the son of the composer, author of the famous polonaise, M. K. Oginsky. The eldest son of the Oginskys will later claim that he is the son of Alexander II.
These events are described in detail in the memoirs "The Dream of Youth": "He had no sooner returned from his journey, which brought him so much entertainment and pleasure, as his love for Olga Kalinovskaya flared up again with a hot flame. Several times he stated that because of "she agrees to give up everything. He trusted Uncle Mikhail, and instead of calling him to prudence, he pointed out to him his own marriage, the victim of which he was, marrying not for love. Papa was very dissatisfied with Sasha's weakness. Back in March, he said that he agreed to marry the Princess of Darmstadt, and now, after four months, he already wanted to break with her. Those were difficult days. We decided that Olga should leave the Court. Polish relatives accepted her, and we saw her only later, already married to Count Oginsky."
Thus was the fate of the first beloved of the future Alexander II. Olga Kalinovskaya died in the last year of the 19th century. She outlived both her royal lover and Empress Maria.

"A Scene from the Great Flood " - 1827 by Joseph-Désiré Court