Background
Michel was born in Paris. His father was an employee at Les Halles, a large marketplace in the central part of the city.
Michel was born in Paris. His father was an employee at Les Halles, a large marketplace in the central part of the city.
An important precursor of the Barbizon school, Michel was practically unknown during his lifetime, and worked as copyist and restorer. Michel"s first patron, at a very early age, was a certain Monsieur de Chalue. Most of Michel"s work concentrates on rural landscapes in the area around Paris.
He was influenced by Dutch landscape painters such as Jacob van Ruisdael and Meindert Hobbema.
Michel worked in oil and watercolor with equal facility. He was forgotten for decades after his death.
The first large exhibition of his work was presented by the Parisian Jean Charpentier hotel, in 1927.