Pierre Puvis de Chavannes

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the great mural painter of nineteenth century France. His large scenes are calm and simple, with pale colour, flat shapes and quiet figures in idealised landscapes.

He was born in Lyon. He painted murals for the Panthéon, the Sorbonne, the Hôtel de Ville in Paris and the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon. He co-founded the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. His simplicity influenced Gauguin, Seurat and Picasso.

The Poor Fisherman (1881), in the Musée d’Orsay, shows a fisherman standing in his boat with bowed head. Look at the muted colour and stillness.