- Théophile Hamel
Théophile-Abraham Hamel (ca. 1817-1870) was a Canadian artist who painted mainly portraits and religious images in 19th-century Quebec.
Life
Hamel was born in 1817 in Sainte-Foy, a suburb of
Quebec City , the son of a successful farmer. In 1834 he was already taking art lessons fromAntoine Plamondon . His early portraits show a mixture of European romanticism and Canadian simplicity. His style gradually changed to match the taste of his clients for simple, honest, even prim portraits. [R. H. Hubbard, "Antoine Plamondon / 1802-1895, Théophile Hamel / 1817-170. Two Painters of Quebec / Deux Peintres de Québec" (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1970), pp. 14-34-35.]In 1843, Hamel travelled to Europe (London, Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice, and then north to France and Belgium). For a while he attended the
Accademia di San Luca , in Rome. He was very much interested in the works of theRomantics . [Hubbard, p. 34.]In 1846 he returned to Canada to Quebec. Throughout his career he travelled throughout
Canada East andCanada West , painting portraits of such notables as SirJohn Beverley Robinson ,Denis-Benjamin Viger , SirAllan MacNab ,Louis-Joseph Papineau ,John Sandfield Macdonald , and SirÉtienne Taché . He worked quickly, often completing a portrait in a single day. [Hubbard, p. 37.]Hamel also painted religious pictures for various commissions, and a series of "imaginative" or "semi-imaginative" portraits of
Jacques Cartier ,Samuel de Champlain ,Jean Talon , Montcalm, and General James Murray. The image of Cartier even appeared on a banknote. [Hubbard, p. 38.]It is estimated that Hamil painted more than 2000 portraits during his lifetime. [Gérard Morisset, "La peinture traditionnelle au Canada français" (Ottawa, 1960), p. 118.] In 1857 he married Mathilde-Georgiana Faribault, daughter of
George-Barthélemy Faribault , a pioneer librarian. He died in Quebec City, 20 December 1870. [Hubbard, p. 61.]Gallery
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
