YVON, Adolphe

French painter. Having studied at the Collège Bourbon, he was employed by the Domaine Royal des Forets et des Eaux at Dreux. He resigned in 1838 and went to Paris to become an artist. He studied under Paul Delaroche at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and had three religious compositions accepted for the Salon of 1841: St Paul in Prison, Christ’s Expulsion of the Money-changers (both untraced) and the Remorse of Judas (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Le Havre). Yvon’s début attracted some critical attention, and his canvases were purchased for the State; but he was more interested in depicting the exotic worlds popularised by artists like Alexandre Decamps and Prosper Marilhat.

In May 1846 he departed for Russia on a voyage of six months that was to have a profound influence on his subsequent career. Drawings made on the trip led to a painting of the Battle of Kulikova (1850; Moscow, Kremlin), depicting the Tatar defeat. It was eventually sold to Tsar Alexander II in 1857. Yvon’s familiarity with Russia contributed to his appointment as the only official artist accompanying French forces during the Crimean War in 1856. His Taking of Malakoff, painted for Versailles (in situ), was shown at the Salon of 1857 and again at the Exposition Universelle of 1867.

Yvon became an officer of the Légion d’honneur in 1867, and painted Napoleon III’s portrait the following year. He was known as the leading teacher of drawing at the École des Beaux-Arts (1863-83).