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Patrice Courcelle

Born in the north of France, Patrice Courcelle pursued classical studies and received a short training at the Beaux-Arts in Lille before leaving to receive direct instruction from several artists on historical art and its requirements.
 
Tutored by the Parisian master Eugène Lelièpvre, Courcelle became the heir to the tradition established by the military painters of Louis XIV and XV. As both an artist and a historian, his documentary plates, scholarly illustrations, and paintings, based on a particularly advanced form of historical documentation that takes into account the accuracy of circumstances, objects, characters and uniforms, have led him to become skilled not just in rendering detail accurately, but in capturing the feeling of soldiers on campaign. His works are published by specialist companies in Belgium, France, and Britain and he has an avid readership ranging from historians, to enthusiasts and military modellers. His original paintings sell worldwide and are exhibited in prestigious venues such as the French Military Academy. In 2013, the Royal Army and Military Museum in Brussels held a 6-month retrospective exhibition of his artwork, and in 2019, the Memorial 1815 Museum in Waterloo showed some of his work in their temporary exhibition on Blücher and Napoleon.

Today, Patrice Courcelle is the author and illustrator of countless articles, more than 80 books devoted to military history, mainly revolutionary and Napoleonic, including more than 25 on the Battle of Waterloo alone.

Historical Art:
Historical Art has little in common with ordinary illustration. It is in line with the "History Painting" of past centuries and consists of making documentary plates or works of art based on rigorous historical documentation where the accuracy of circumstances, places, sets, objects, characters and their costumes, etc. are taken into account.
 
New interest is now occurring in this increasingly demanding discipline, which is also regaining its stature among pure art lovers. Many are called but very few are elected in this difficult medium that requires considerable documentation and advanced special knowledge combined with a certain artistic talent.
 
Barely a dozen artist-historians worthy of the name are currently active. Internationally recognized by his peers, specialists and amateurs, Patrice Courcelle is among them.

Bibliography:
He has illustrated numerous books in the Osprey “Men-at-Arms” series on the French and Allied armies of the Napoleonic Wars. 
Along with Jack Girbal, he illustrated F-G Hourtoulle's excellent study, “Soldiers and Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars”.
He is one of four illustrators, along with Bernard Coppens, Daniel Lordey, and Michel Petard, who contributed illustrations to the magnificent Editions Quatour publication “Les Uniformes des Guerres Napoleoniennes”, of which I have a copy for sale on this site.