Adolphe APPIAN (1818 - 1898) - The little train

Adolphe Appian studied with François Grobon and Augustin Thierriat at the École des Beaux-arts in Lyon and exhibited for the first time at the Paris Salon in 1835. He then exhibited in Lyon in 1847, then in Paris in 1855. Thereafter, he exhibited regularly at both Salons and received a gold medal in Paris in 1868. He participated in the Universal Exhibition in London in 1862 and received an honourable mention at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889. He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honnor in 1892.

One of his major works is the large decorative panel entitled Rives de l'Ain, which he painted for the staircase of the building of the Rhône prefecture in Lyon. Adolphe Appian was also a musician, but he chose to devote himself exclusively to the visual arts in 1852, the year in which he met Corot and Daubigny, both of whom were to have a major influence. Appian spent considerable time at Fontainebleau, where he worked with other painters of the Barbizon School.


He worked extensively in charcoal, showing a marked preference for backlit subjects and the juxtaposition of light and shadow. His palette lightens noticeably when he discovers the light of the Mediterranean, his colors become fresher and he works with an increasingly skilful touch, betraying the influence of his friend Ziem.