Nicolas Victor Fonville was a French landscape painter, lithographer, and engraver, born in Thoissey in 1805 and active primarily in Lyon and the surrounding regions of eastern France. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and shaped by early exposure to both academic discipline and direct observation of nature, Fonville emerged as a pivotal figure in the development of plein air landscape practice in France during the first half of the 19th century.
Beyond his own production, his lasting importance lies in his role as a teacher, organiser, and quiet catalyst, fostering a generation of landscape painters who would come to value direct engagement with the natural world over studio-bound convention. His work was widely exhibited in Lyon and Paris, and today is held in numerous French museum collections.
Known For
Atmospheric landscape painting; early plein air practice; river valleys, rural paths, villages, and mountainous horizons; teaching and promoting outdoor landscape study; lithography and engraving.
Student Of
Antoine Duclaux
Augustin Thiérriat
Antoine Guindrand (during his Roman period)
Lived In
Thoissey (birth and later life)
Lyon (from adolescence; primary professional base)
Rome (1828-1829)
Historical Context
Fonville worked during a transitional moment in French landscape painting, between late Neoclassical traditions and the emergence of a more naturalistic, observational approach that would later be associated with the Barbizon School. At a time when landscape painting was still often learned through copying engravings or studio instruction, Fonville championed direct study from nature. His insistence on working outdoors - walking with students into the countryside around Lyon and the Bugey region - positioned him as an early advocate of plein air practice, anticipating developments that would only gain wider recognition later in the century.
Public Collections
Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
Gadagne Museums, Lyon
Brou Museum, Bourg-en-Bresse
Chintreuil Museum, Pont-de-Vaux
Eyeglass Museum, Morez
Magnin Museum, Dijon
Timeline
1805
Born in Thoissey, Ain.
1820
Death of his father; moved to Lyon with his mother.
Early 1820s
Employed by printer-lithographer Horace Antoine Sastre (Brunet); introduced to formal artistic training.
C.1824-1826
Studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon under Duclaux and Thiérriat.
1828-1829
Travelled to Rome, largely on foot, with Antoine Guindrand; spent one year studying and working.
Returned to France after contracting Pontine Marsh fever.
Married Joséphine Sastre (Brunet); fathered seven children.
1831
Founded a landscape painting school on Rue des Bouchers, Lyon.
1832-1852
Regular exhibitor at the Salon of Lyon.
1840-1849
Exhibited at the Paris Salon.
1840
Exhibited View of Lyon, taken from the grounds of the veterinary school at the Royal Museum in Paris.
1841
Exhibited View of Châtillon-d’Azergues at the Society of Friends of the Arts, Lyon.
1852
Retired to Thoissey; built a house and studio on Montée Challes.
1854
Awarded a medal at the Nîmes exhibition.
Actively advised fellow artists and families on collections and legacies, contributing to the formation of the Lorin Museum.
1856
Died in Thoissey on 12 November.
Described By Others
Fonville was widely respected for the soundness of his artistic judgement and the seriousness of his approach to landscape painting. His contemporaries valued him not only as a painter, but as a mentor whose advice shaped careers and collections alike. Later commentators have recognised him as a pioneer of plein air instruction in France, whose influence extended well beyond his own canvases, quietly preparing the ground for a more natural, lived relationship between painter and landscape.