Théophile Hamel

Théophile-Abraham Hamel (8 November 1817 – 23 December 1870) was a Canadian artist who painted mainly portraits and religious images in 19th-century Quebec.[1]

Théophile Hamel
Théophile Hamel, self-portrait c. 1837
Born(1817-11-08)8 November 1817
Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada
Died23 December 1870(1870-12-23) (aged 53)
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Known forPainter

Life

Hamel was born in 1817 in Sainte-Foy (then a suburb of Quebec City), the son of a successful farmer. Hamel's paternal ancestry can be traced to French immigrant Jean Hamel, who arrived in New France from Avremesnil (Normandy) in 1656. In 1834 Théophile was already taking art lessons from Antoine Plamondon. For a while he attended the Accademia di San Luca, in Rome. He was very much interested in the works of the Romantics.[2]

Career

His early portraits show a mixture of European romanticism and Canadian simplicity. His style gradually changed to match the taste of his clients for simple, honest, even prim portraits.[3]

In 1838 he painted 'Three Indian Chiefs Leading a Delegation to Quebec. In 1843, Hamel travelled to Europe (London, Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice, and then north to France and Belgium).[4] In 1846 he returned to Canada to Quebec. Throughout his career he travelled throughout Canada East and Canada West, painting portraits of such notables as Sir John Beverley Robinson, Denis-Benjamin Viger, Sir Allan MacNab, Louis-Joseph Papineau, John Sandfield Macdonald, and Sir Étienne Taché. He worked quickly, often completing a portrait in a single day.[5]

Hamel also painted religious pictures for various commissions, and a series of "imaginative" or "semi-imaginative" portraits of Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Jean Talon, Montcalm, and General James Murray. The image of Cartier even appeared on a banknote.[6] It is estimated that Hamel painted more than 2000 portraits during his lifetime.[7] In 1848, he painted portraits of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine. In 1850-1, he painted Egerton Ryerson. In 1853, he painted 'Madame Renaud and Her Daughters Wilhemine and Emma'. His painting 'L'Abbé Edouard Faucher', painted in 1855, now hangs at Eglise de Saint-Laurent, Lotbiniere. His painting of Sir Allan MacNab, painted in 1853, hangs in the House of Commons of Canada.[8]

Family

In 1857, at age of 40, he married Mathilde-Georgiana Faribault, daughter of George-Barthélemy Faribault, a pioneer librarian. He died in Quebec City, in December 1870.[9]

Works
Title/subjectArtistDate createdMedium
Robert Baldwin Théophile Hamel 1848 Oil on canvas
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Théophile Hamel 1848 Oil on canvas
Egerton Ryerson Théophile Hamel 1850-1 Oil on canvas
'Madame Renaud and Her Daughters Wilhemine and Emma' Théophile Hamel 1853 Oil on canvas
'L'Abbé Edouard Faucher' Théophile Hamel 1855 Oil on canvas
Jean-Antoine Panet Copy by Théophile Hamel 1856 Oil on canvas
David William Smith Théophile Hamel 1859 Oil on canvas
Alexander Macdonell Copy by Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas
Levius Peters Sherwood Copy by Théophile Hamel 1855 Oil on canvas
John Willson Théophile Hamel 1855 Oil on canvas
Marshall Spring Bidwell Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas
Archibald McLean Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas
Sir Allan Napier MacNab[n 1] Théophile Hamel 1853 Oil on canvas
Henry Ruttan Théophile Hamel 1856 Oil on canvas
Austin Cuvillier Copy by Théophile Hamel 1856 Oil on canvas
Augustin-Norbert Morin Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas
John Sandfield Macdonald Théophile Hamel 1854 Oil on canvas
Louis-Victor Sicotte Théophile Hamel 1855 Oil on canvas
Sir Allan MacNab Théophile Hamel 1862 Oil on canvas
Joseph-Édouard Turcotte Théophile Hamel 1865 Oil on canvas
Major General James Wolfe Copy by Théophile Hamel c. 1865 Oil on canvas
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm Copy by Théophile Hamel c. 1865 Oil on canvas
George Prevost Copy by Théophile Hamel after Robert Field (c. 1808) 1864 Oil on canvas

See also

Notes
  1. Also sat as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Théophile Hamel.
  1. Vézina, Raymond (1976). "Hamel, Théophile". Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
  2. Hubbard, p. 34.
  3. R. H. Hubbard, Antoine Plamondon / 1802-1895, Théophile Hamel / 1817-170. Two Painters of Quebec / Deux Peintres de Québec (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1970), pp. 14-34-35.
  4. Pound, Richard W. (2005). 'Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates'. Fitzhenry and Whiteside.
  5. Hubbard, p. 37.
  6. Hubbard, p. 38.
  7. Gérard Morisset, La peinture traditionnelle au Canada français (Ottawa, 1960), p. 118.
  8. Pound, Richard W. (2005). 'Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates'. Fitzhenry and Whiteside.
  9. Hubbard, p. 61.
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