Cherbourg – The Artists – Gudin, Theodore
This page forms part of a series of pages dedicated to the many artists who painted in Cherbourg. A full list of all the artists with a link to their works can be found at the bottom of this page.
Jean Antoine Théodore Gudin ( 1802 – 1880) was a French marine painter. Along with Louis-Philippe Crepin, he became one of the first two official Peintres de la Marine in 1830.
Gudin was born in Paris. Nothing is known of his father and, in his memoirs, he seems to suggest that his mother was a widow who took full responsibility for raising him and his older brother, Jean-Louis (1799-1823).
He was enrolled at a naval school, but quit his studies to go to New York, where he mingled with the Bonapartists in exile. In 1819, he joined the United States Navy and sailed aboard the Manchester Packet, a 250 ton brig.
In 1822, he returned to Paris and, inspired by his brother he decided to pursue a career in art and found a position in the studios of Anne-Louis Girodet. The following year, he and his brother were involved in a shipwreck on the Seine, from which he escaped. His brother drowned, however, and this affected him deeply for the rest of his life.
Gudin went with his friend, French Navy officer Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars, to participate in the Algerian Expedition, where he made numerous sketches.
Upon his return, he was named a “Peintre de la Marine” at the court of Louis Philippe. Over the next few years, he made painting trips to Italy, Switzerland and Russia. He was then created a Baron by the King and commissioned to produce ninety paintings on French naval history for the Palace of Versailles, a monumental task that apparently undermined his health.
In 1844, he married Louise Margaret Hay (1820-1890), daughter of the English General James Hay (1788-1862) and goddaughter of the King. They had three children, including the painter Henriette Gudin.
He served as Vice-President of the ‘Société centrale de sauvetage des naufragés” (sea rescue) which he helped to create in 1864, in memory of his late brother Jean Louis.
After the fall of the Empire in 1870, he went into self-imposed exile in England and used the name “Gordon”. He was able to return to France in 1879, following the death of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, and died at Boulogne-Billancourt in 1880.
Click here to read Gudin’s full bio on Wikipedia.
NOTE: Click on any image below for a bigger version (no new window will open).
Baron Gudin painted in a few other places in Normandy. A link “⇠” to their respective works will appear below when published.
Here are the artists we found who worked in Cherbourg. A link “⇠” will show when that artist’s works has been published on our site. A “*” indicates that the artist did not work in Cherbourg itself, instead worked in nearby places.
- 🇺🇸 Boggs, Frank Myers * ⇠
- 🇷🇺 Bogolyubov, Alexey (Alexei) * ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Bonington, Richard Parkes ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Boudin, Eugene-Louis ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Bourgeois, Constant ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Bruce, Mary Louisa, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Cotman, John Sell ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Crepin, Louis-Philippe ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Friesz, Othon ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Garneray, Ambroise Louis ⇠
- 🇷🇺 Gritsenko, Nikolai ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Gudin, Theodore ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Le Gray, Gustave ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Leitch, Richard Principal ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Mathon, Emile-Louis ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Mozin, Charles Louis ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Noel, Jules Achille ⇠
- 🇫🇷 Signac, Paul ⇠
- 🇧🇪 Timmermans, Louis-Etienne ⇠
- 🇬🇧 Turner, William * ⇠
NOTE: You can subscribe to our new articles by entering your email address in the box on the right column (or at the very bottom of this article) and clicking on the button “Subscribe”.
You will need to check your incoming emails and validate your subscription. If you can’t see an email from us, check your Spam folder. Without validating your email address, you will not get notifications from us. WE WILL NEVER GIVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSES TO ANYONE!
Related Posts
- 10000
Theodore Gudin, a French artist, was the very first official painter/artist of the French Navy. For his work for the country, he was made a Baron. - 10000
Theodore Gudin, a French artist, was the very first official painter/artist of the French Navy. For his work for the country, he was made a Baron. We found one of his paintings dealing with Caudebec-en-Caux in Normandy - 89
Charles-Louis Mozin (1806 - 1862) was born into a family of musicians, Charles-Louis Mozin studied with Xavier Leprince. Primarily a painter and lithographer of coastal landscapes, harbour views and seascapes, he exhibited at the Salons in Paris between 1824 and 1861. Along with Eugene Isabey and Richard Parkes Bonington, Mozin… - 87
Mary Louisa Bruce, Countess of Elgin and Kincardine (née Lambton; 1819 – 1898) was the daughter of John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham and his second wife Louisa Elizabeth Lambton (née Grey), daughter of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. She travelled to Canada twice: the first time when her father… - 83
Russian artist Alexey (Alexei) Bogolyubov painted all over the world, but many of his works were centered along the Normandy coastlines. He did not work in Cherbourg itself, instead he painted in nearby Saint-Marcouf.
