Émile Bin

Émile Jean-Baptiste Philippe Bin (10 February 1825, Paris - 4 September 1897, Marly-la-Ville) was a French portraitist, mythology painter, watercolorist and politician.

His father was the painter Jean-Baptiste François Bin (c.1791-1849), sometimes called "Bin père", who gave him his first art lessons. Then, from the ages of twelve to fifteen, he studied with his uncle, Nicolas Gosse. He then worked briefly with Léon Cogniet and entered the École des Beaux-arts in 1842. Three years later, he had his first exhibit at the Salon.

As a staunch Republican, he fought on the barricades in 1848 and 1851. Later, he would refuse to paint a portrait of Napoleon III for the Town Hall of Montmartre, despite needing the money to support his family.

He initially worked as a decorative painter, specializing in hotels throughout Paris and Reims (including the great hall of the Hôtel du Louvre, which he did together with his uncle), but also worked at the National Museum of Natural History, the École Supérieure de Pharmacie, the Crédit Mobilier, the Church of Saint-Sulpice and some private residences such as the Louis XV Salon of André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri. At the International Exposition (1867), he collaborated on decorating the Egyptian Pavilion, designed by Jacques Drevet (), for which he was awarded the Order of the Medjidie. In 1871, he received three commissions from Russia. He was a fervent admirer of the works of Michelangelo and Raphael, and visited Rome in 1866, accompanied by his star pupil and sometime collaborator, Joseph Blanc, reinforcing his interest in historical and anecdotal scenes and his predilection for mythological nudes.

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