Frédéric Dufaux

"Geneva countryside" by Frédéric Dufaux - Oil on wood

1942

Auguste Frédéric Dufaux is a Swiss painter born in Geneva on July 12, 1852, died in the same city on July 2, 1943. He comes from a family of enamel painters and enamel makers. Descendant of French Huguenots hunted by the Edict of Nantes, his father, Frédéric Guillaume Dufaux, painter and sculptor, gave him his first drawing lessons, then he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Geneva where he met his teacher, Barthélemy Menn. He continued his studies in Paris and Florence at the Uffizi Academy where he worked with Luigi Rubio, Italian painter of history and portrait painter. According to his son, Henri Dufaux, he is a hard worker. He produces portraits and specializes in genre subjects and intimate landscapes that he exhibits regularly. He lived in Paris from 1876 to 1891 and participated in the Salon of French artists. He travels to Italy, Algeria, Egypt, from where a certain number of exotic works. He participates with Édouard Castres in the panorama The entry of the French army in Verrières. He executed four panels representing the Four Seasons for the Grand Théâtre (Geneva). At the request of Gustave Revilliod, he produced painted boxes (mythological and allegorical scenes) for the ceilings of the Ariana Museum. In this museum are a Portrait of Gustave Revilliod (at the age of 70) by Frédéric Duffaux, as well as a Bust of Ariane Revilliod-De La Rive made by his father, Frédéric Guillaume Dufaux. In sculpture, he produces busts of François Diday (Rath Museum in Geneva), of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Grand Théâtre (Geneva)), of Marc Monnier (for the University of Geneva), of Jean-Etienne Dufour (Cimetière des Kings). His wife Noémie de Rochefort-Luçay, daughter of Henri Rochefort, French writer and politician, gave him three children including Amélie (1878-1948), Geneva's first racing pilot, and the famous aviation pioneers Henri Dufaux and Armand Dufaux. He made the death bust for his father-in-law's grave located in the Montmartre cemetery in Paris. He practices physical culture and is interested in new inventions (automobile, aviation)