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Concept
Émile Chambon
Summary
Émile François Chambon (10 January 1905 – 28 October 1993) was a Swiss painter and illustrator.
Émile Chambon was born in Geneva, the son of Émile-Joseph Chambon and Joséphine née Coppier. Three years after Émile, his mother gave birth to a daughter, Julia Mathilde Chambon, who went on to assist Émile throughout her life, following and supporting him, carefully noting in her diary the agenda and activities of her brother up until his death in October 1993.
In the autumn of 1921, Chambon entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Genève. A first federal grant was awarded to him that year and enabled him to undertake a journey to Paris. This stay allowed him to become familiar with the Cubist painters, who did not however find favour in his eyes – apart from Roger de La Fresnaye – as, in his opinion, they simply imitated African art without being able to render the latter's originality.
During the period from 1925 to 1928, he worked with the painter Jean-Louis Gampert, La Fresnaye's friend; he assisted him in his atelier and also in the realisation of the decor for the Corsier church (Geneva).
In 1928 he received a second federal grant that allowed him a second journey to Paris; he stayed there for almost ten weeks. He discovered the Musée du Louvre where he made numerous copies, essentially in the form of drawings, from Rembrandt, Rubens and Géricault. He also visited the Musée Guimet, Petit-Palais and the great monuments of Paris.
The end of the 1930s saw a remarkable increase in Chambon's output of canvases. He almost doubled his level of production compared to the beginning of the decade; this rhythm remained steady until the end of the 1960s.
Chambon's father died in February 1946 and his passing severely affected Emile's health; he had always maintained a very strong relationship with his father and would only partially recover from this loss.
From the beginning of the 1950s, Chambon's oeuvre became increasingly popular in Switzerland; Chambon exhibited at a considerable number of collective exhibitions, most of which were in the German part of Switzerland.
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