Jean Frédéric Bazille (December 6, 1841 – November 28, 1870) was a French Impressionist painter. Many of Bazille's major works are examples of figure painting in which Bazille placed the subject figure within a landscape painted en plein air.
Frédéric Bazille was born in Montpellier, Hérault, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, into a wealthy Protestant family. He became interested in painting after seeing some works of Eugène Delacroix. His family agreed to let him study painting, but only if he also studied medicine.
Bazille began studying medicine in 1859, and moved to Paris in 1862 to continue his studies. There he met Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley, was drawn to Impressionist painting, and began taking classes in Charles Gleyre's studio. After failing his medical exam in 1864, he began painting full-time. His close friends included Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Édouard Manet. Bazille was generous with his wealth, and helped support his less fortunate associates by giving them space in his studio and materials to use.
Bazille was just twenty-three years old when he painted several of his best-known works, including The Pink Dress (ca. 1864, Musée d'Orsay, Paris). This painting combines a portrait-like depiction of Bazille's cousin, Thérèse des Hours, who is seen from behind—and the sunlit landscape at which she gazes. His best-known painting is Family Reunion of 1867–1868 (Musée d'Orsay, Paris).
Frédéric Bazille joined a Zouave regiment in August 1870, a month after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. On November 28 of that year, he was with his unit at the Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande when, his officer having been injured, he took command and led an assault on the German position. He was hit twice in the failed attack and died on the battlefield at the age of twenty eight. His father travelled to the battlefield a few days later to take his body back for burial at Montpellier over a week later.
Study of Saint-Sauveur 1863
Au jardin 1864
Femme nue de dos 1864
Macreuse 1864
Soup bowl covers 1864
The dog Rita asleep 1864
The pink dress 1864
Saint-Simeon 1864
Study at Fontainebleau Forest 1865
Landscape at Chailly 1865
Village street 1865
Vallon en foret de Fontainebleau 1865
The improvised field hospital 1865
Beach at Sainte-Adresse 1865
Landscape at Chailly 1865
Studio in the rue de Furstenberg 1865
Saint-Sauveur 1865
Little Italian Street Singer 1866
The Little Gardener 1866
Self-Portrait 1866
Still life with fish 1866
Study of flowers 1866
Family Reunion on the Terrace at Meric 1866
Aigues Mortes 1867
Dame sur la terasse de Meric 1867
Reunion de famille 1867
Family Reunion 1867
Port of the Queen at Aigues-Mortes 1867
Portrait of Renoir 1867
Portrait of Renoir 1867
The Western Ramparts at Aigues-Mortes 1867
Studio of the rue Visconti 1867
Portrait of Alfred Sisley 1867
Portrait of Edmond Maitre 1867
The Terrace at Méric. Oleander 1867
The Little Gardener 1867
The Heron 1867
Fisherman with a Net 1868
Self-portrait at Saint-Saveur 1868
Vase of flowers on a console 1868
Portrait of Paul Verlaine 1868
View of the Village 1868
After the bath 1868
The Fortuneteller 1868
Self-Portrait with Detachable Collar 1868
Young Woman with Lowered Eyes 1868
Manet and his easel 1968
The Family Gathering 1868
Summer Scene 1869
Portrait of Zacharie Astruc 1869
Etudes pour une Vendage 1869
Etudes pour une Vendage 1869
Mauresque. Woman in Moorish Costume 1869
Portrait of Alphonse Tissie 1869
Portrait of Edmond Maitre 1869
Jeune femme au jardin 1869
Nude Youth on the Grass 1869
Portrait of Edouard Blau 1869
Man with a pipe 1869
Portrait of a Cuirassier. Portrait of a Dragon 1869
X-ray of La Mauresque 1869
Young Woman with Peonies Woman with Peonies 1870
Young Woman with Peonies Woman with Peonies 1870
Ruth and Boaz, sketch 1870
Ruth and Boaz 1870
Landscape by the Lez River 1870
Flowers 1870
Flowers 1870
Studio in the Rue de la Condamine 1870
Frederic Bazille en chemise 1870
La Toilette 1870
Louis Auriol fishing 1870
Grape Picker in a Cap 1870
Grape Picker in a Cap 1870
Grape Picker in a Yellow Hat 1870
Reclining nude 1864
Two Herrings 1868
Portrait of Paul Verlaine at the Age of Twenty Three Years 1867