(b Paris, 22 Oct 1796; d Paris, 24 Sept 1822). French painter and draughtsman. After the death of his father, the sculptor Claude Michallon (1751-99), and of his mother in 1813, he was brought up by his uncle, the sculptor Guillaume Francin (1741-1830). He drew from life at an early age and studied with Jacques-Louis David, Pierre Henri de Valenciennes and later Jean-Victor Bertin. For four or five years starting in 1808 Michallon may have received financial help from Prince Nicolay Yusupov after the latter had seen some of his works in David's studio. Although no works dating from this period are known, Michallon exhibited a View of Saint-Cloud, Seen from the Vicinity of S?vres and a Wash-house: Study from Life Executed at Aulnay at the Salon of 1812. It is possible that two small landscapes, a View of Sceaux and a Site in Ile-de-France (both Albi, Mus. Toulouse-Lautrec, on loan to Gray, Mus. Martin), date from 1812-15. Their panoramic perspective, spare composition, realistic depiction of weather conditions and the picturesque quality of a figure disappearing into the distance suggest that Michallon was familiar with the work of 17th-century landscape artists.
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