Narcisse Berchère

Narcisse Berchère

Biography of Narcisse Berchère ( 1812-1891 )

Painter, engraver and lithographer, Narcisse Berchere spent his childhood in Etampes, in the french countryside.
He started studying at the Paris Fine-Art Academy with Renoux and Charles Remon but having discovered Theodore Rousseau and Corot, and under the influence of the Barbizon School artists, he soon travelled through France, visiting Fontainebleau, Brittany and Normandy, where he painted his first landscapes in monochromatic subdued tones.
In 1847, he travelled to the South of France, Spain and the Middle-East and his palette brightened and warmed up. In 1949-50, he was hired as a draughtman by the archeologist Caignart de Saulcy on a journey through Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt.
In 1856, he returned to Egypt and the Sinaï desert with Leon Belly, Jean-Leon Gérôme and the sculptor Bartholdi. In 1869, together with  the artists Gérôme, Fromentin, Tournemine, Frère and with Imperatrice Eugenie, he was there again to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. He became famous for his views of the Nile and the desert, depicting oriental architectures, oasis, landscapes and arab settlements, some in an  neo-impressionist style, others with a realist and detailed brushwork. ("Thebes", "The Simoun", "Giseh", "Camel riders by the Nile",  "Fellah women by the Nile", "Fellah children").
He started exhibiting at the Salon in 1843 with great success. In 1866, he presented a very substancial picture, « Caravans gathering at the night-watch, Ouady el Had », which was highly praised by the public and art critics and purchased by the Luxembourg Museum in Paris. In 1855, he received a medal at the Universal exhibition. From 1859, he was regularly awarded prizes and honours, including the French Légion d’honneur in 1870.
He died near Paris in September 1891, as a master of the French Orientalist School.

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