The Roux family
of marine painters
starts with Joseph Roux (1725-1793),
who
took-over and
developed a hydrographic
business founded by his father in
Marseilles which
published and sold charts, navigation
instruments and
other
nautical
gear. He painted in oils under
the name of Joseph Roux and the sale
of ship
portraits was a side line of
the shop. Not
many of his works remain.
Joseph
had one son, Ange-Joseph
Antoine (1765-1835),
who followed in his
father’s
footsteps in the
hydrographic business in
Marseilles and who became a
prolific and
successful water colourist.
With portraits of ships and other
Mediterranean
craft, and
as a general marine artist.
The
Peabody
Essex
Museum
has a
collection of his ship portraits of American
ships and a number of his
sketchbooks. He
painted under
the name Antoine
Roux. He
had three sons who
followed
in the family business
in Marseille and trained as painters. He
also had
a daughter
Ursule who became a water
colourist but
few of her works remain.
Mathieu-Antoine
Roux
(1799-1872), the first son, followed
his father in working
on
ship portraits in
water colour. He
signed his paintings
Antoine Roux, fils
(son).
He was
not as prolific as
his
father or brothers.
He succeeded to
the hydrographic
business of an
uncle also in
Marseilles.
Francois
Joseph Frederic
(1805-1870), the second son,
also followed his father as
a
water colourist in
ship portraits.
He worked in
Marseilles until 1827 when he
went to Paris to
the atelier Vernet.
About 1835, he settled in Havre and opened
a
hydrographic
shop. In
Paris, he came
to the attention of Admiral Wiliaumez
who
commissioned him to prepare a series of forty
watercolours of ships in
the
Admiral’s
career.
The major part of
this work was completed in
1827 and 1828.
Another
series of twenty three watercolours dedicated to
the Duke of
Orleans
was
completed in
1831.
His style changed
several times over the years. He
signed
his
paintings
"Frederic Roux".
The Musee
de la Marine in Paris has many of his works.
Francois
Geoffroi Roux
(1811-1882), the third son,
who followed his father and
brothers in the
family
business, as a water colourist.and
was probably the most
gifted painter
of the Roux family. His
paintings became
more natural and less
stereotyped. He
succeeded his father in
running the shop in Marseilles.
In
1860,
he
relinquished the shop to his nephew Tonin (son of
Antoine, fils) and lived
alternatively
between Marseilles and Paris. In
the period
from 1860 to his death
in 1882, he
acomplished much of his best work. In 1870, he was appointed as
an
official
'Peintre de la
Marine'. In 1885, after his death, a posthumus
"L'oeuvre
de
Francois Roux: Representant Les Portraits des
Navires de la Marine Francaise
de 1792 a nos
Jours" was published with black and white
photographs (plates)
by A.
Liebert of 78
of Francois' paintings mainly of French Navy ships over
the period
from
1792. Some of thes
plates are illustrated in an Addendum.
What follows
below is only a
sample of the paintings of
Antoine Snr and his
three sons
over
a period spanning from the 1790s to the
1880s which apart
from the
artistry are of interest to the
marine historian of
the development
of ships
and
Mediterranean sea and water-craft
over that period.