Eugène Accard was an accomplished French painter of genre scenes, costume paintings, and portraits of society ladies. He was well-admired during his lifetime and exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon.
Exhibited
Paris Salon, Fine Arts Exhibition in Rouen.
Public Collections
University of Michigan Museum of Art, National Art Museum of Moldova.
Timeline
1824
Born in Bordeaux, France.
Studied under Abel de Pujol (1785-1861) in Paris.
Studied at the École des Beaux-arts under Léon Cogniet (1794-1880).
1846
Debuted at the Paris Salon where he exhibited regularly until 1887.
1862
Reviewed in Le Journal des livres : revue bibliographique.
“Mr. Eugène Accard, whose paintings have already been noticed at the Palais de l'Industrie, during the exhibition of 1861, is a young painter of recognized talent. The care with which the poses of his characters are studied, the simple elegance with which their rich costumes are draped, denote a precision of drawing and a certainty of brushwork which are the hallmark of the true artist, a worthy student of Abel de Pujol; to these qualities, which are the fruit of observation, conscientious study and serious work.
Mr. Accard adds another merit, rarer perhaps, because he is rather a gift of nature that the result that a painter can obtain through meditation and perseverance, we want to talk about colour. Mr. Accard was born a colorist. He knows how to find on his palette the freshest and warmest tones at the same time, without being garish and harmonising with great happiness and skill; its velvets, its satins are of a brilliance and a truth which produces a complete illusion to the eye; it would be fabric if it wasn't paint. The scene from Molière that Mr. Accard has just recalled on canvas, will be a charming ornament in the gallery of an amateur or in the boudoir of a little mistress.”
1864
Awarded a medal at an exhibition in Rouen.
1868
Reviewed in Les Salons, dessins autographes: Exposition des beaux-arts, Paris.
“Eugene Accard - A young healer, in a Louis XIII suit, sitting on a seat, in an attitude full of ease and naturalness, reads a letter to his companion, a charming blonde, who leans on his shoulder in a movement of discreet intimacy. The figures and hands are treated with exquisite delicacy as also the clothes, the fabrics and the thousand ingenious details which complete this scene, all imbued with a scent of elegance. By leaving the field open to the imagination, genre painting recreates the eyes and awakens sweet sensations. These qualities would be enough to explain the popularity attached to Mr. Accard's productions.”
Reviewed by Eugene Chapus in Le Sport: journal des gens du monde.
“Mr. Eugène Accard is today the interpreter who enters most deeply into the character of this school. No. 6 is one of those intimate scenes in which he is a past master. The costumes are from the time of Louis XIII. What freshness in the colour, what finesse of expression! With what art the painter has brought this red costume together with this other all-blue costume, the contrast of which is so violent, and yet how harmonious the effect! The rider reads a manuscript with which he seems enchanted, and the young woman is so identified with him by feeling that one wonders if the work is by her or by him. To the left of this painting is number 5: the Indiscreet Request, with a finesse of execution perhaps even greater than its counterpart. Here the oil painting struggles in adorable tenuity with the miniature, and it surpasses it in expression. It is still a scene from the time of Louis XIII. Mr. Eugène Accard is right to be fond of this period, because of the rich details that the costumes of the time offered him; he excels in rendering them in the variety and brilliance of their nuances, the coquettish elegance of the forms, just as he knows so well how to add, to the expression of a given feeling, a feature which further by individualising him, in a way, through his personal feeling and the spirit that is within him.”
1888
Died in Paris.
Obituary published in La Revue normande : littéraire & artistique, 1888.
“It is a most sensitive loss that I have to grieve for my former friend of the deceased, to record here, joining that of this excellent artist, honourable and modest among all, of this old comrade (my eldest) who also only had friends, of Eugène Accard finally, who had made an esteemed name for himself as a genre painter, history and intimate subjects. Which, although they were processed in small proportions, were nonetheless enjoyed by amateurs for a long time. He was 62 years old. Accard had been exhibiting in Paris since 1848 as well as professionally. He was a student of Léon Cogniet, and a former member, as devoted as he was diligent and honest, of the Relief Committee of the Taylor Association, where I saw him for the first time.
Living from his art, not very fortunate, Accard was and always was a noble heart. An honourable mention, almost hurtful, for any reward for a busy career, for incessant work, that's all that fanciful Juries found to offer him, like many others. His talent at least spoke sufficiently for itself, and old friendships, family ties that were dear to him, consoled him for the injustices he had to endure as an artist and former exhibitor.
It’s one more mourning to add to so many others. His memory could not be forgotten in this monthly chat either. Raymond Moisson and Eug. Accard both take to the grave the most sincere regrets. I cannot do better than to bring together their names here, while giving myself the all too faint echo of these legitimate and particularly deserved regrets.”