Background
Constant Troyon was born on August 28, 1810 in Sèvres, Ile-de-France, France. He was a son of Jean-Marie-Dominique Troyon, a decorative painter, who also worked at the famous porcelain manufactory, and Jeanne Pracht.
Constant Troyon was born on August 28, 1810 in Sèvres, Ile-de-France, France. He was a son of Jean-Marie-Dominique Troyon, a decorative painter, who also worked at the famous porcelain manufactory, and Jeanne Pracht.
In his early years, Constant studied art under Denis Désiré Riocreux. Also, he was taught by his godfather Alfred Riocreux. Later, Constant's godfather paid the tuition under Camille Roqueplan, with whom Troyon also studied painting.
Constant Troyon began his career as a porcelain painter. By the late 1830's, he turned his attention to landscape painting, and his first Salon entries were views of Saint Cloud and Sèvres. These early paintings were characterized by bright colors, based on his experience, working with porcelain glazes.
When Troyon turned twenty-one, he gave up the porcelain work to travel around the country so long as his finances endured. When the painter ran out of money, he became friends with a Chinese manufacturer and worked relentlessly at his old business as a decorator until the point, when he amassed enough funds to start painting again.
In 1843, Troyon became friends with Theodore Rousseau and Jules Dupré, and began to frequent Fontainebleau, the place, which would provide him with a new subject for his painting. The year 1847, when he visited the Lowlands, was a turning point in the painter's career. There, Constant was influenced by two great seventeenth-century Dutch animal painters, such as Albert Cuyp and Paulus Potter.
When he returned to France, he focused on animal painting and the Salon of 1849 saw his first entry, devoted to an animal subject. From this point on, Constant became a successful painter — he had enough money and his works were highly acclaimed. Moreover, he was considered an influential painter not only in France, but also in the Lowlands and Germany.
In his last years, the painter saw great success. He was decorated with the National Order of the Legion of Honour and five times received medals at the Paris Salon, while Napoleon III was one of his patrons.
On the Way to the Market
On The Farm
Apple Harvest in Normandy
Goose Girl
Cows in the Field
Plowing
Returning From Pasture
A Cow in a Landscape
Figures in a Farmyard
The Ford
A View Towards The Seine From Suresnes
Cows in a Landscape
Hillside with Rocky Outcrops
Calf cows at the marl
Unloading the Ferry
The Angler
Horse Portrait
Water Carriers
Outside the Stable
Running dogs
Pastoral Scene
Cows at the Watering
Cows Grazing
Cow chased by a dog
Path in a Small Wood
La Vallee
Watercourse in the woods
Herdsman
Return of the Herd
The white bull
Approaching Storm
Beach At Trouville
The Fisherman
Constant Troyon never married.