22.05.1733 – 15.04.1808

Hubert Robert is a French landscape painter, who gained European fame for amazingly executed dimensional canvases with romantic images of ancient ruins surrounded by idealized nature. His nickname was”Robert from the Ruins.”

The artist was born in Paris. Master of landscape studied in the most famous French educational institution of the University of Paris in the XIV-XV centuries – Navarre College. In 1754 he went to Rome with the French Ambassador Etienne françois Choiseul, in Italy Robert met Piranesi, who had a great influence on his work. In Rome, the master lived 11 years, inspired by the local scenery.

In 1765, the artist returned to Paris, and a year later was admitted to the Royal Academy of painting and sculpture. In the same place Hubert Robert became a planner of the Royal gardens, the Keeper of the Royal Museum, the Chancellor of the Academy, and was engaged in decoration of the residences of the king, the Queen and the high court. In 1775, the landscape painter took part in the reconstruction of the Park in Versailles.

The French revolution did not pass Hubert Robert side. During the political changes in October 1793, the artist was arrested on suspicion of disloyal and imprisoned in Saint-Pelagie, then transferred to Saint-Lazare prison. He was released only after the fall of the French revolutionary Robespierre in 1794.

The artist died in Paris in 1808 from an apoplexy stroke.

The master is known for picturesque fantasies, whose main motive is parks and real, and more often imaginary “majestic ruins”, as well as a variety of sketches that he made during his stay in Italy. His paintings are presented in the Louvre, The carnival Museum, the Hermitage and other palaces and estates in Russia, as well as in many major museums in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia.

On the picturesque world of the artist a documentary film by Alexander Sokurov “Robert. Happy life»

The artist had a habit of leaving his brand marks on the canvases. In each picture among inscriptions on a wall of a ruin, on a monument, a stone fragment, even on a brand of a cow it is possible to find a name: “Hubert Robert”, “H. Robert” or initials “H. R.”. In some paintings among the people depicted, the master left his self-portrait (gray-haired middle-aged man).