Nicolas Sicard

Biography of Nicolas Sicard ( 1846-1920 )

Born in Lyon in January 1846, Nicolas Sicard was a painter of historical and war scenes, but also of genre scenes, urban and animated landscapes. He showed a real artistic talent and, after classical high school studies, he became the student of Victor Vibert and Danquin at the School of Fine Arts in Lyon.

He started at the Paris Salon in 1869 and became a member of the Salon of the French Artists in 1883. He received a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1889. In 1891, he received an honorable mention at the Salon. He was appointed Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1900.

A prolific painter, he created large-scale works, often for official commissions, such as his paintings decorating the Prefecture of the Rhone in Lyon, where a street still bears his name in his honor. At the Museum of Fine Arts in Lyon, one can admire one of his major works "Entrance Bridge Guillotière" dating from 1879.

Watercolorist and orientalist, he travelled to the Middle East where he painted streets, markets and hunting scenes with riders and horses painted in bright colors, like this traditional hawk hunting in southern Morocco.