Jacques Rousseau 1630-1693. French School 17th.Century. Red chalk drawing. River Landscape. 22 by 16 x 22 cms.
A member of a Hugenot family, Rousseau was born at Paris. He is noted as a painter of decorative landscapes and classical ruins much influenced by Nicolas Poussin and Gaspard Dughet.
He was employed to decorate walls for Louis XIV and Phillipe D'Orleans at St Cloud, Marly and Versailles. Upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, he was obliged to take refuge in Switzerland and Holland, finally in 1690 he was invited to England by the Duke of Montague. Who employed him, together with other French painters, to paint the walls of Montague House (on the site of which is now the British Museum). He was also employed to paint architectural subjects and landscapes at Hampton Court Palace where many of his decorative panels still exist. He spent the latter part of his life in London, where he died in 1693.