Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux

"Lamartine, before the Hôtel de Ville, Paris, rejects the Red Flag," February 25, 1848. By Henri Felix Emmanuel Philippoteaux (1815–1884). The red flag represents terror, blood, and a "party's republic," Lamartine told the crowd.

Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux (1815–1884) was a French artist. He was born in Paris, France, studied art at the studio of Leon Cogniet,^[1] and first exhibited his work at the Paris Salon of 1833.^[1]

One of his best-known works was a depiction of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War,^[2][3] painted in the form of a cyclorama, a type of large panoramic painting on the inside of a cylindrical platform designed to provide a viewer standing in the middle of the cylinder with a 360° view of the painting. Viewers surrounded by the panoramic image are meant to feel as if they are standing in the midst of a historic event or famous place.

Philippoteaux also produced a large number of works chronicling the rise and successes of Napoleon Bonaparte, including a portrait of Napoleon in his regimental uniform and a group of paintings of French victories in the Napoleonic Wars. Philippoteaux was awarded the Légion d'honneur in 1846.^[1][4]

Philippoteaux's son Paul Philippoteaux was also an artist; both were famous for their production of cycloramas. Father and son collaborated on The Defence of the Fort d'Issy in 1871. They also collaborated on a cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg that became a celebrated work in the United States:

"One cyclorama, however, halted the slide in popularity, and almost single-handedly revived the public's interest in the medium for another decade...this singular creation was initially painted in 1882-83 by Henry F. Philippoteaux and Paul Philippoteaux, a father and son team of French artists...within a year, half a million people had stood before it."^[5]

Father and son enhanced the artistic effect of their cylindrical painting by adding a third dimension, including elements of diorama placed in front of the painting, and by incorporating sections of walls and battlefield objects that blended into the painted parts of the presentation.^[6]

He died in 1884 and his obituary in the New York Times appeared on November 10, 1884.^[1]

References

Print after Philippoteaux of Régiment colonel-général & Régiment suisse de Salis-Samade, 1786.

1. "Death of a French Painter" (PDF). The New York Times. November 10, 1884.
2. "The Panorama of a battle. The picture of the Siege of Paris" (PDF). The New York Times. September 17, 1882. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
3. Panorama of the Siege of Paris (by Philippoteaux) exhibited in Los Angeles
4. Viardo, Louis. The Masterpieces of French Art Vol I. Ed. WM. A. ARMSTRONG. PHILADELPHIA: GEBBIE & CO., Publishers. 1883., p. 70.
5. Sokalski, JA (2007). Pictorial illusionism: the theater of Steele MacKaye. McGill Queens University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-7735-3204-5.
6. Sokalski, p. 134

Partial list of works

• Les Gentilshommes du Duc d'Orléans
• The Iceberg, Episode of the Wars of America, (1833)
• The Retreat from Moscow, (1835)
• The Capture of Ypres. (1837)
• Death of Turenne
• The Siege of Antwerp in 1792
• Colonel Fr. Ponsonby rescued on the battlefield of Waterloo, by a French Officer
• They are in our House (1880)
• The Periwinkle
• The Deception
• The Blade of Grass
• The Return from the Dram-shop, (1853)
• The Battle of the Raab,
• The Passage of the Tagliamento
• The Siege of Antwerp in 1832

External links

• Gallery of Philippoteaux works at New York Public Library
• Philippoteaux's The Siege of Paris cyclorama
• Panorama of the Defence of Paris, 1875 work at google books
• Partial list of his oil paintings

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  The Numbering of the Israelites, engraving

• 

  Charge of the French Cuirassiers at Waterloo, painting

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  Arrival of "la Dorade" at Courbevoie on 14 December 1840., 1867. Château de Malmaison

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  Napoleon at the Battle of Rivoli, oil on canvas