right|175px constant troyon (sÃ¨vres august 28, 1810 &ndash; february 21, 1865), french painter, was born in sÃ¨vres, near paris, where his father was connected with the famous manufactory of porcelain. troyon was an animal painter of the first rank, and was closely associated with the artists who painted around barbizon. the technical qualities of his methods of painting are most masterly; his drawing is excellent, and his composition always interesting. it was only comparatively late in life that troyon found his mÃ©tier, but when he realized his power of painting animals he produced a fairly large number of good pictures in a few years. troyon entered the ateliers very young as a decorator, and until he was twenty he labored assiduously at the minute details of porcelain ornamentation; and this kind of work he mastered so thoroughly that it was many years before he overcame its limitations. by the time he reached twenty-one he was travelling the country as an artist, and painting landscapes so long as his finances lasted. then when pressed for money he made friends with the first china manufacturer he met and worked steadily at his old business of decorator until he had accumulated enough funds to permit him to start again on his wanderings.  troyon was a favorite with camille roqueplan, an artist of distinction eight years his senior, and he became one of his pupils after receiving certain tuition from a painter, now quite unknown, named alfred riocreux. roqueplan introduced troyon to rousseau, jules duprÃ©, and the other barbizon painters, and in his pictures between 1840 and 1847 he seemed to endeavour to follow in their footsteps. but as a landscapist troyon would never have been recognized as a thorough master, although his work of the period is marked with much sincerity and met with a certain success. it may be pointed out, however, that in one or two pure landscapes of the end of his life he achieved qualities of the highest artistic kind; but this was after lengthy experience as a cattle painter, by which his talents had become thoroughly developed. in 1846 troyon went to the netherlands, and at the hague saw paulus potter's famous "young bull". from the studies he made of this picture, of cuyp's sunny landscapes, and rembrandt's noble masterpieces he soon evolved a new method of painting, and it is only in works produced after this time that troyon's true individuality is revealed. when he became conscious of his power as an animal painter he developed with rapidity and success, until his work
1810_births 1865_deaths 19th-century_French_painters Burials_at_Montmartre_Cemetery LA(c)gion_d\'honneur_recipients People_from_SA"vres