Joseph Charles Franchère
(1866 - 1921)
Canadian painter, A.A.R.C
Joseph-Charles Franchère is born on March 4th, 1866 in Montreal. He began his artistic formation in drawing at l'Académie Commerciale du Plateau and under the teaching of Joseph Chabert. Franchère left for Paris in 1888 with the painters Henri Beau, Joseph Saint-Charles and Charles Gill. Together, they pursued an artistic training at the Julian Academy and the Académie Colarossi under the direction of Jean Léon Gérôme and Joseph Blanc. Like his friend Saint-Charles, Franchère practices sculpture with Louis-Philippe Hébert in parallel with his training in painting. During the two years in Paris, Franchère moved into a studio near Marc-Aurèle Foy Suzor-Coté, recently arrived in Paris.
On his return to Montreal, Franchère produced three religious works for the Sacré-Coeur chapel at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal. Unfortunately, these are now destroyed because of the fire that occurred in 1978.
There is three dominant themes in Franchère’s work: religious scenes, portraits and landscapes. His style wavers between realism and European impressionism.
As a founding member of the Art Club of Montreal, he regularly exhibits at Royal Academy of Art and the Art Association of Montreal. In addition, several of his compositions were presented internationally in the late nineteenth century, including the United States (Chicago and Buffalo) and Paris.
Franchère past away in Montreal in May 1921.