Léon Charles de NOVION
(Saint-Quentin, 1792 – Saint-Philbert de Grand-Lieu, 1861)
Rocks at Belle-Île-en-Mer
Oil on paper mounted on strong cardboard mounted on canvas
27 x 36 cm
1840Ink inscription on the back: “Study by my grandfather the Count of Novion in 1840 - Rocks at Belle-Isle-en-Mer”
Son of Jean Victor de Novion (1747-1825) and Anne Le Prestre de la Moustière (1768- ?), Léon Charles de Novion, Count of Novion, was born on May 29, 1792 in Saint-Quentin.
Charles de Novion is mainly known for his military career. He was successively the King's bodyguard, aide-de-camp to Lieutenant General Thiebault, aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Chabert, officer of the Chasseurs à cheval and aide-de-camp to Lieutenant General Count de Rumigny.
Alongside his military career, Charles de Novion also devoted himself to painting when he had time. Wounded in the knee in 1812, he remained without assignment until the return of the Bourbons and probably took advantage of these two years to devote himself to painting. He did the same in 1816, where he may have frequented the studio of Baron Gros. In 1819, as aide-camp to the governor of the Invalides, he painted The Toilet of an Invalid, which he exhibited at the Salon. This painting earned him a medal of encouragement. He was again present at the Salon in 1822 with two interior scenes and then in 1824 with five landscapes and an interior scene. According to the Salon booklet, he collaborated that year with the artists Eugène Lami and Duval le Camus, who created the characters in his paintings. He also exhibited various landscapes at the Salons of Lille and Douai in 1825.
Married in 1826 to Henriette Rousselot de Saint-Céran (1805-1875) with whom he had three sons, Charles de Novion was made a knight of the Legion of Honor on February 1, 1815 and raised to the rank of officer on September 2, 1843.
He died on April 23, 1861 in Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu.