Voila Jean Louis (Voille Jean Louis)

May 14, 1744 (Paris) - the end of 1806

Painter

Biographical details are few, for a long time the artist identified with the Swiss painter A.-F.-G. Violle.

born in a family jeweler. In 1758 mentioned among the disciples of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris, where he studied under F. Y. Drouet senior.

In early 1770 (no later than 1771) arrived in St. Petersburg. He worked as a portraitist for private orders and in the court of Grand Duke Paul Petrovich. In 1772-1773 and 1782-1785 went to Paris. In 1788 was recognized by the IAH "designated" in academics.

in 1793 refused to renounce the revolutionary motherland in accordance with the decree and sign an oath of loyalty to Catherine II, as a result was forced to leave Russia. In 1795 he took part in the Paris Salon. In 1801 he returned to St. Petersburg in 1801-1803 executed several portraits of Alexander I.

veil - one of the greatest masters of the portrait in Russia last third of the XVIII century. His creativity was associated with a certain group of customers. This "small yard (circle of Grand Duke Paul Petrovich), as well as the family of the St. Petersburg aristocracy Stroganoff and Panin. For his art is characterized by a high level of artistic culture, characteristic of the French school, however, restrained and careful, delicate relation to the model, which brings him to the Russian masters. The favorite for the artist was the type poluparadnogo portrait (in form and a representative of the chamber by his spiritual vision); works characterized by grace, elegance, compositional solutions, picturesqueness and decorative expressiveness of color, painting - fine and clear. The artist preferred to soft silvery-bluish or blue-pink variety, which is close rocaille tradition often use liquid letter, in which a layer of paint stood out the texture of the canvas, making oil paintings reminiscent of his artistic expression pastel. In general, creative painter blends into the culture of Russian sentimentalism.

Voila works are in major museum collections, among them - the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum, Pushkin Museum im. A. Pushkin and others.