Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/49

* DECAMP. 37 DE CANDOLLE. from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in ISnO. and lionoiable mention at the Paris Expo sition of I'.IOO. DECAMPS, de-kax', Alexandef - Gabriel (1803-60). A French painter, bom in Paris, March 3, 1803. He was a pupil of Abel de Pujol, but was in no way restricted by the traditions of the conventional and classic in art. His work that appeared in the Salon of 1827 — painted in his twenty-fourth year — was not at first pleasing to his feliow-artists, but its originality and style attracted and pleased the public. Of early instruc- tion lie had received little, regarding lessons •mo- notonous.' He preferred to grope his wa- alone, but in later years aclcnowledged himself handi- capped for lack of early training. Once, visiting the studio of Millet, he exclaimed, "Ah! you are a lucky fellow; you can do all you wish to do." "The sting of his artistic conscience" was always with him, making him discontented and restless even over his best work. Decamps's genius final- ly expressed itself in landscape and genre, and in Oriental subjects whieli introduced both. He was of the naturalistic school, seeking every-day topics in the streets, on the quays, and in the fields. He reveled in color and in effects of atmosphere and light, and he managed these qualities in his pictures in a way that was as fascinating as nature itself. Before he visited the East, in 1827, he had painted suggestions of the Orient, and he early laid the foundation of that French school of Orientalism that was later to include G^rOme, Ziem, Constant, and Fr6re. His first paintings of genre subjects were so popular that in time he suffered from their suc- cesses, as it was difficult for him to depart from that style of work, though he aspired to the historical in his nine sketches of the history of Samson. As a landscape painter he sympathized with the English Constat)le. and really took a high position in his interpretation of nature. Light and atmosphere dominated his works. It was the modern note that was handed on to the school of Impressionists, the ilonets and ilanets. Decamps liked to indulge his brush in satirical work, and "The Monkey Experts" and his tra- vesties of Charles X. display his skill in that direction. He touched the high-water mark of his popularity in 1839, in his exhibits at the Salon, where his "CafO in Asia," "Street of a Roman Village," "Children Playing Near a Foun- tain," and other examples of his figure subjects and landscapes made him chevalier of the Legion of Honor. But the authority of the classic school at that time made Decamps uncertain of himself and discouraged with his profession. In this mood he burned many of his works and retired to the country, ignoring art for many years. He lost his life August 22, 1860, as the result of an accident while riding to the hunt. Consult: Stranahan. Modern French Painters (Kew York, 1888) ; Chaunielin, Decamps, sa vie ei son oeuvre (Marseilles, 1861) ; Im-Thum, Scheffer et Decamps (Nimes, 1876) ; Cli^ment, in Les artistes celebres (Paris, 1886) ; Chesneau, ilouvement moderne en peinture: Decamps (Paris, 1861); Moreau, Decamps et son ceuvre (Paris, 1860). DE CANDOLLE, de kax'dol'. Arorsxix Py- RAMK n77S-lS41). A celebrated Swiss botanist. He was born in Geneva. Switzerland, where he obtained his early education. While still a youth his ability to study and his attainments in litera- ture were in marked contrast to his weak con- stitution. The gracefulness of his verse led Florian to predict a future for him as a poet. Law and medicine at first attracted him, but his love of plants, which had been aroused in 1792, while he was living with his mother in a village during the siege of Geneva, and which had been growing, through the infiuence of Saus- sure and especially of Vauclier, led him to adopt the study of botany as his life work. In 1796 he removed to Paris, where his first works. His- toria Plantarum Succulentarum (Paris, 1799), and Astragalogia (Paris, 1802), attracted the attention and gained him the friendship of scien- tists, among whom were Cuvier, to wliose chair in the College de France he was elected in 1802; and Lamarck, wlio intrusted to him the publica- tion of Flore Frangnise (Paris, 1803-15), in the introduction of which work he elaborates and enforces Jussieu's natural system of plant classi- fication as opposed to the Linna>an or artificial system. In 1804 the medical facultj' of Paris awarded him the degree of JI.D. Beginning with 1806, he spent six summers in the ser-ice of the Government making a botanical and agri- cultural survey of the entire country, a report of which appeared in 1813. In 1807 he became' botanist and director of the botanical graden in the medical faculty of the L'niversity of ilont- pellier, and three years later was transferred to the newly created chair of botany in the science faculty. During this incumbency he published Thcorie clcmentaire de la hotanique (Montpel- lier, 1813; 2d ed. 1819, reprint 1844)— a work that greatly extended his reputation and the popularity of the natural method of plant classi- fication. In 1816 he accepted the newly founded chair of natural science, and, conjointh' with his son, the directorship of the botanical garden at Geneva, which offices he held until 1834, when his son succeeded him. He spent the remainder of his life in Geneva. In 1824 he commenced the Prodromus Systematis Regni Yegetabilis (Paris, 1824-74), based upon a former work (Regni Yegetabilis Systema yaturale), which had been planned upon too prodigious a scale for one man to complete, and of which only two vol- umes were pul)lished, in 1819 and 1821 respec- tively. Even of this more condensed work he was able to complete only seven volumes; the re- maining fourteen are the work of his son. He published other books and pamphlets, whose value, though considerable, is eclipsed by the works already mentioned. As a lecturer he exert- ed a wide influence and as a citizen was highly esteemed. Among the numerous honors awarded him was the cross of the Legion of Honor, which he received from Louis Philijipe. DE CANDOLLE, Alphoxse Louis Pierre Pyeame (1803-93). A celebrated botanist, son of Augustin de Candolle (q.v. ). He was born in Paris. His early education, like that of his father, was obtained in Geneva, where the great- er part of his life was spent, in the chair of natural science vacated by his father, in which, besides making botanical investigations of his own, he continued his father's monumental work, the Prodromus Systematis Regni Yegetabi- lis. His most important botanical writings are: Introduction a I'etude de la botaniqne (Paris, 183.5) ; Geographic botanigue (Paris. 18.55) ; Lois de la nomenclature botaniqne (Paris, 1867) ;