Analyse du parcours et de la production du peintre brésilien Rodolpho Amoêdo (1857-1941), pensionnaire de l’Académie Impériale (brésilienne) des Beaux-Arts à Paris, entre les années 1879 et 1887. Au contact avec l’art français contemporain, mais aussi celui du XVIIIème siècle, Amoêdo va d’abord subir l’influence de certains peintres français, comme Gustave Boulanger et Alexandre Cabanel, ses premiers maîtres. Mais vers la fin de son séjour parisien, il passe à s’intéresser à l’art de Puvis de Chavannes. Ses toiles deviennent alors plus claires et se rapprochent maintes fois d’un style pré-symboliste. De retour au Brésil en 1888, il s’intéresse à la littérature de son temps et il participe à divers cercles formés par de célèbres hommes de lettres à Rio de Janeiro. Sa peinture toujours académique dans la facture et romantique dans son contexte va évoluer vers un style réaliste plus intimiste et psychologique. Souvent la femme actuelle prenait une œuvre place importante dans ses représentations. Dans ce sens, il devient très à l’écoute de l’art de James Tissot. Toutefois, ses œuvres imprégnées de théâtralité font preuve d’originalité : tant au niveau de la composition comme de la mise-en-scène des personnages. Sa science des techniques de peinture et les idées positivistes ont aussi joué un rôle dans sa conception de l’art. Commentaires et critiques sur les œuvres présentées par l’artiste lors des Salons parisiens, des expositions brésiliennes et internationales. Comme enseignant dévoué à l’école des Beaux-Arts de Rio de Janeiro, il a collaboré directement au développement de l’art au Brésil, en particulier dans la période de transition entre l’art académique du XIXème et l’art moderne du XXème siècle. / Analysis of Brazilian painter Rodolpho Amoêdo’s (1857-1941) career path and works who earned a grant from Brazilian Imperial Academy of Fine Arts to stay in Paris between 1879 and 1887. Exposure to French contemporary art but also to that of the XVIIIth century, at the beginning, Amoêdo is influenced by French painters like Gustave Boulanger and Alexandre Cabanel, his first professors. At the end of his Paris stay, he gets closer to Puvis de Chavannes. His paintings become lighter, in a pre-symbolist style. Back to Brazil, in 1888, he is fond of literature and takes part to several societies founded by famous writers in Rio de Janeiro. His paintings, academic in their style but romantic in their environment, become more realistic and include greater personal and psychological dimensions. Occurrences of modern ladies in his works are more frequent : his works are closer to James Tissot’s ones. However, they encompass theatrical aspects which make them unique at the general organization level as well as at the direction of characters. His views about art were also founded on his deep knowledge of painting techniques and on positivism. Comments and critical analysis of works presented by the artist at exhibitions in Paris or at local or international exhibitions in Brazil. As a devoted professor at Rio de Janeiro School of Fine Arts, he worked directly for developing art in Brazil, especially during the transition period between XIXth century academic art and XXth century modern art.

In this study, I explore four representations of the Devil as a fallen angel in nineteenth century France in order to better understand the way in which the artists at this time used the symbol of the Devil to express their viewpoints on the various social, political and cultural changes in France. In the first chapter, I provide a survey of the artistic development of the Devil, from his angelic roots in the Old Testament to his near disappearance during the Enlightenment. I examine the semantic difficulties when discussing the Devil, as well as the current literature on his philosophical, theological and cultural significance. The second chapter is dedicated to an in-depth analysis of the four works in which I situate the image within the artist’s larger body of work and then examine the physical representation of the Devil, the landscape in which he is found and the transitory moment of the fall depicted. In the third chapter I provide a historical context for these representations and demonstrate the way in which they reflect the political and cultural agitation in France at the time due to the multiple revolutions, changes in governing structure and advances in science and technology. Through this exploration of these four representations, I propose that the Devil provides unique insight as to the ongoing artistic conceptualisation and perceptions of the state of humanity in an increasingly modern world. / Graduate / walkerem@uvic.ca