Background
Adolphe–Félix Cals was born into a poor family yet his parents attempted to prevent him from performing manual labor.
Adolphe–Félix Cals was born into a poor family yet his parents attempted to prevent him from performing manual labor.
He parted company with his (neoclassical-influenced) teacher, owing to his teacher"s lack of appreciation for the emerging impressionist movement in art
He initially trained as an engraver under Jean-Louis Anselin who was a family friend. After Anselin died suddenly he went on studying engraving, first with Ponce, then under Bosc, before finally entering the atelier of Léon Cogniet. Cogniet tried to mentor Cals in the direction of a more "popular" style although Cals disagreed.
Cogniet argued that Cals style would hurt his career but Cals refused to give in.
His career did in fact suffer and it was until he was much older that he reached any level of success. His most productive years ended up being the last ten of his life.
He exhibited multiple pieces at the 1868, 1869 and 1870 Salons. In 1863, Cals exhibited at the "Salon des Refusés", alongside works by Monet, Degas and Pissarro.
So began the next phase of his career.
Influenced by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Johan Barthold Jongkind, he worked in more subdued, less fawn-coloured tones, more closely matching the Impressionists without adopting the "purple-violet which some painters are flooding their paintings with"—as Victor Jannesson remarked in his book on Cals (see bibliography). Having divided his time between Paris and Honfleur since 1871, he finally decided to settle down, in 1873, in Honfleur, a port in Normandy which was home to many painters, and has been called "the cradle of impressionism". At the invitation of Monet, he participated in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 and 1876, until 1881.
Cals died in Honfleur on 3 October 1880, aged 69.