CHEVALIER, Nicholas (1828-1902)

artist

was born at St Petersburg, Russia, on 9 May 1828. His father, Louis Chevalier, came from Vaud, Switzerland, and was overseer to the estates of the Prince de Wittgenstein in Russia. Chevalier left Russia with his father in 1845, and studied painting and architecture in Switzerland and at Munich. In 1851 he went to London and worked as an illustrator in lithography. He also designed a fountain which was erected in the royal grounds at Osborne, and two of his paintings were hung at the Academy in 1852. Further study in painting followed at Rome. About the end of 1854 Chevalier sailed from London to Australia, and in August 1855 obtained work as a cartoonist on the newly established Melbourne Punch. Later on he did illustrative work for the Illustrated Australian News and also worked in chromo-lithography. In 1864, when the national gallery of Victoria was founded, an exhibition of pictures by Victorian artists was held, the government having undertaken to buy the best picture exhibited for £200. Chevalier's "The Buffalo Ranges" was selected, and was the first picture painted in Australia to be included in the Melbourne collection. In 1867 Chevalier visited New Zealand and did much work there which was exhibited at Melbourne on his return. In 1869 he joined the Galatea as an artist with the Duke of Edinburgh, on the voyage to the East and back to London The pictures painted during the voyage were exhibited at South Kensington.

In January 1874 Chevalier was commissioned by Queen Victoria to go to St Petersburg and paint a picture of the marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh. He was making London his headquarters and was a constant exhibitor at the Academy from 1871 to 1887. He had one picture in the 1895 Academy but had practically given up painting by then. He died at London on 15 March 1902. He is represented in the Melbourne, Sydney and Ballarat galleries. He married in 1855, Caroline Wilkie, a relative of Sir David Wilkie, who survived him.

Chevalier was a man of much personal charm, able to speak several languages, and a good amateur musician. He was a competent painter in both oil and water colour, but his Australian landscapes are over-loaded with detail, and he was unable to capture the characteristic light and atmosphere.

C. Chevalier, Nicholas Chevalier Peintre Vaudois; The Times, 18 March 1902; W. Moore, The Story of Australian Art; A. Graves, The Royal Academy Exhibitors.