Joseph Villevieille


Joseph Villevieille was a French painter.

Early life

Joseph Villevieille was born on 6 August 1829 in Aix-en-Provence. He graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Career

Villevieille taught painting in Aix-en-Provence. He became friends with Paul Cézanne, whose mother he painted shortly before she died.
When the townhall of Aix-en-Provence was burgled on 22 August 1872, Villevieille was commissioned to do many paintings for its walls. Some of those paintings were portraits of prominent local painters like Jean-Baptiste van Loo and François Marius Granet, and local historian Scholastique Pitton. In 1900, he did a painting of Sextius Calvinus, the founder of Aix-en-Provence, which is also in the collection of the townhall.

Death and legacy

Villevieille died on 11 February 1916 in Aix-en-Provence. He was buried at the Saint-Pierre Cemetery in Aix-en-Provence. The Avenue joseph villevieille in Aix-en-Provence was named in his honor.