Raphaël Collin

Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (Paris, 17 June 1850 – Paris, 21 October 1916) was a French painter, academician and teacher who worked mainly in his native city. He is best known for the ties he built between French and Japanese art, in both painting and ceramics.

He studied at Verdun, where he became close friends with Jules Bastien-Lepage, and later in Paris, in the studios of Bouguereau and Alexandre Cabanel. Around 1873 he exhibited with success at the Paris Salon, and soon received commissions for murals in public buildings such as the Hôtel de Ville, the Théâtre de l'Odéon and the Opéra-Comique.

In his early work he followed academic conventions closely, using historical, religious and allegorical subjects, but he introduced Impressionist touches in light and colour. As academic painting declined at the end of the century, his friendship with the Impressionists led him to flatten his picture space and use concentrated areas of colour, though he never fully abandoned allegory or naturalism. He also worked outdoors and illustrated books, including Daphnis and Chloé (1890) and Chansons de Bilitis (1906).

His studio and the Académie Colarossi, where he was a partner, received young Japanese artists. Kuroda Seiki and Kume Keiichirō, who later taught at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, spread his academic method, luminous palette and plein-air practice in Japan, which helped secure the special regard oil painting still enjoys there.