Forgotten Glory

There are quite few compositions about artists who were active in academy andsalons in the middle and late 19th century.In the painting history,academy and salonwere commonly regarded as the synonyms of "conservatism and diehard".Such misunderstanding makes it hard to know about the artists of that time,which leaves ablank period in the history of painting.Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier is one of the leading French painters in the middle and late 19th century.His father was a merchant;and his mother was born of a merchantfamily and loved arts from childhood.Inheriting his mother’s artistic genes,Meissonierrose gradually in the painter group by his artistic talent.Meissonier’s works were big hitamong collectors,and won great success in commerce.Subtle connection between Meissonier and collectors reflected artists’ and collectors’ esthetic pursue in that period,which gives a clear answer to the causality about the art phenomena in the middle andlate 19th century.Meissonier’s excellent art performance enables him to be ranked the top in the salon art genre.Meissonier never really integrated into the academy painter groups,although he was in academy.Although he was the leader of the salon artist,his discontent to the"narrow and decadent" salon style made him the one dissociated the salon,which changed the overall situation of painting art at the end of the 19th century;This paper gives an overview of Meissonier’s growth experiences,artistic characteristics and social influence,and delves the relations of Meissonier and his family,friends and patrons.The author strives to make a full-scale understanding to this artist,to discuss Meissonier’s positive role in the development promotion of French arts and his influence on the afterworld arts,and to bring insight to the actual appearance of the painters in the middle and late 19th century and revert the nature of the history.