Karl Girardet

[1] On a study trip to Switzerland in 1833–35, he made the acquaintance of the aristocratic painter Maximilien de Meuron, by whose influence he obtained commissions for two panoramas of Lausanne.

[2] An alpine landscape presented at the 1837 Salon obtained him a first distinction, and he successfully collaborated with Cogniet on two great battle scenes exhibited at Versailles.

After a six-month stay in Egypt, 1844, he continued illustrating works including Thiers's famous Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire, and completed several royal commissions for paintings of state occasions.

[2] Following the fall of the monarchy in February 1848, Girardet left France and moved into his brother Édouard's home in Brienz, Switzerland.

His landscapes, based on sketches often completed under adverse weather conditions and within one hour, exhibit a rare vivacity and mastery of subtle color, especially after his 1850 stay in Brienz.

Unlike his friends and colleagues Maximilien de Meuron and Rodolphe Töpffer, he was not enchanted by the snow-capped peaks of the Alps, preferring instead to portray lakes, streams and marshes, notably the rivers Aar, Eure and Marne.