The forgotten ones: Auguste de Molins
In the series of forgotten from the first exhibition of painters of the Société Anonyme Coopérative des Peintres, Sculpteurs et Graveurs in 1874, this seventh article evokes Auguste de Molins (1821-1890). Despite a style quite far removed from that of his impressionist contemporaries, the latter will present 4 of his works at the exhibition.
Born in Lausanne to a banker father, an excellent animal painter, famous for his hunting scenes, Auguste de Molins was a pupil of Victor Joseph Chavet in Geneva.
Encouraged by his family, between 1858 and 1860 he traveled to Java, which he recounts in a book "Le tour du monde". Auguste de Molins will then work in France where he makes his debut in 1850. He will participate in many salons, including that of the "Refusés" in 1863.
In 1869 he married Eliza Bell in Bradford, England. They will not have children.
The works of Auguste de Molins will be among the few that will not be torn apart by critics during the Impressionist exhibition of 1874 at the Nadar studio on boulevard des Capucines. Émile Cardon notes about him: "Misters Brandon, Cals and de Molins cannot without injustice be considered as followers of the new school." During the Impressionist sale of 1875, he bought two paintings by Pierre Auguste Renoir.
Returning to Switzerland around 1885, Auguste de Molins taught painting and drawing in Lausanne, where he died in 1890.
In his art history lectures, Fabrice Roy combines the past with the present, in a poetic and playful evocation of the French 19th century...
