JACQUES GUIAUD (1810-1876) View of the Princely Palace of Monaco Oil on canvas Signed and dated 1850 lower left 90 x 130 cm Exhibition : -Salon Parisien de 1853, Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs Bibliography : -Catalogue of the seventy-sixth exhibition of living artists, described on page 115 under no. 570 "View of Monaco Castle (Piedmont). (see figures 2 and 3). -Correspondence with Monsieur Coupery, undated but from 1853 (Archives Armelle Buet) Jacques Guiaud was born in Chambéry in 1810 to parents who were actors. Although little information about his apprenticeship has come down to us, we learn from the 1850 Salon catalogue that he frequented the studios of Julien-Michel Gué (1789-1843), Louis-Etienne Watelet (1780-1866) and Léon Cogniet (1794-1880) during his formative years. It was in 1831, at the age of 21, that the "Savoyard", as he was known to his friends in reference to his birthplace, began his career at the Salon. In 1832, accompanied by his friends Justin Pierre Ouvrié (1806-1879) and Eugène Latteux (1805-1850), Guiaud decided to set off to discover Italy. During their four-month journey, they visited Genoa, Milan, Pisa, Florence, Rome (where they stayed with Horace Vernet), Naples and Bologna. This trip had a real influence on the rest of his career, as the landscape painter by training had developed a taste for architecture, which he took with him to the 1833, 1834 and 1835 Salons, where he exhibited paintings and watercolours of Venice, Rome, Naples, Padua and Vicenza. In 1848, Paris in the midst of the Revolution did not reassure our artist, who decided to move to Nice, which he had discovered earlier during his Italian Grand Tour. Monaco was a must for this painter, who was constantly on the lookout for a monument, a chapel, a ruin or even a feudal castle that might have captured his curiosity. The Princely Palace of Monaco (formerly Piedmont, as indicated in the 1853 catalogue) is a subject of which we know a few watercolours and drawings that are now in the Musée Masséna and the Palais princier de Monaco. (see figures 4 and 5). His years in Nice, which lasted until 1861, were initially difficult financially, but Guiaud found an inexhaustible source of inspiration here. As he had done in Paris, he opened his studio to private students and organised a course for ladies. Guiaud also developed relationships with other artists and intellectuals of the time, taking part in the city's dynamic cultural life, as when he founded the Société des Amis des Arts de Nice, chaired by Paul Delaroche. His wife Louise Eléonore's health problems forced him to return to Paris in 1861, where he sought better care. Despite this effort, she died the same year. Guiaud then had to face a difficult situation, house his five children and resume his career in Paris. Until 1876, the year of his death, Guiaud continued his numerous travels throughout France and Europe. His long career at the Salon, from 1831 to 1876, enabled him to obtain recognition from the State, which asked for or bought his paintings on numerous occasions, notably for the following works: -Prise de l'île de Malte par l'armée d'Orient, 13 juin 1798", commissioned by the State from the artist in 1834, still preserved today at the Châteaux of Versailles and Trianon, inv. no. 1850.1371. -Grande rue d'Inspruck, (Tyrol)", acquired by the State at the Salon of 1835 for the royal residence, today the Château de Fontainebleau Museum. -View of Bayard Pass near Dinant", acquired by Louis Philippe at the Salon 1836, now in the Musée du Louvre, inv. no. 5254; LP 2337. -Return of the ashes of Napoleon 1st, 15th December 1840", commissioned by the French State, now kept at the Châteaux of Versailles and Trianon, inv. no. Mv 5125. On his death, Guiaud left a rich artistic legacy that traces the landscapes of the 19th century and influenced many painters of his generation.