George Théodore Berthon

George Théodore Berthon RCA
Born	3 May 1806 Royal Palace of Vienna
Died	18 January 1892 (aged 85)
Nationality	Austrian-born French
Education	Paris, France. He likely was trained by his father who is said to have been a student of Jacques Louis David
Known for	Canadian portrait artist

George Théodore Berthon RCA (3 May 1806 – 18 January 1892) was a Canadian portrait painter. Born in Vienna to a well-known French portrait painter, René Théodore Berthon, he emigrated first to Great Britain, and then to Canada, sometime before 1845. He specialised in portraiture of high-ranking British and Canadian officials, developing a sense of realism and simplicity. He died in Toronto in 1892.

Biography

Berthon's father, René Théodore Berthon, was a court painter to Napoleon I, and likely trained his son in art. As well, his knowledge of art in Paris would have been significant: his father was a student of Jacques Louis David.[1] As an adult, he lived in England for a number of years in the household of Sir Robert Peel to teach Peel's daughters drawing and French.[2] The first verifiable record of his immigration to Canada is an advertisement for his portraiture services in a Toronto newspaper in 1845.

Berthon was notable in the history of Canada for his creation of formal portraits characterized by a sense of realism. He focused on defining his subjects' features and characters without idealization. The composition of his portraits remains simple with dark backgrounds. His work is important both as a historical record and as an example of the style of Canadian portraiture during that period.

He was nominated as a founding member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts[3] but failed to qualify.[2] He was elected a life member of the Ontario Society of Artists in 1891.[2]

He died of a bronchial infection, at his Toronto home, in 1892.[1]

Paintings by George Théodore Berthon

• 
  Colonel John Graves Simcoe
• 
  Sir John Colborne, GCB, GCMG (Baron Seaton) Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, 1828–36
• 
  George Murray (British Army officer), Governor of Upper Canada, 1815
• 
  Sir John Beverley Robinson
• 
  Peregrine Maitland
• 
  General Isaac Brock c. 1883
• 
  Lieutenant Governor Frederick Philipse Robinson, Upper Canada, 1815
• 
  Francis Gore
• 
  Lieutenant Governor Henry William Stisted of Ontario, 1867–68
• 
  Peter Russell (politician) President and Admin of Upper Canada, 1796–99, ca 1882
• 
  Lieutenant Governor Gordon Drummond of Ontario
• 
  Sir Edmund Walker Head, Governor General of the Province of Canada, 1854–1861

References

1. Lowrey, Carol. "George Theodore Berthon". www.biographi.ca. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
2. Bradfield 1970, p. 27–29.
3. Records of the Founding of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts. Toronto: Globe Printing Co. 1879–80. p. 16. ISBN 9780665132964.

Bibliography

• Bradfield, Helen (1970). Art Gallery of Ontario: the Canadian Collection. Toronto: McGraw Hill. ISBN 0070925046. Retrieved 2 August 2020.

External links