François Ferriere was born in Geneva.
His father was Jean Claude Ferrière (1710-1787) and his mother was Magdeleine Magnet (1715-1774).
He studied in Paris
and was married in Geneva in 1785 to a Frenchwoman, Marie Antoinette Reboul (1760-1825).
They had four children, two sons and two daughters, but tragically their first born son, Daniel Antoine, born in 1785, died aged two.
In 1793, Ferrière moved to Britain where he exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1793-1804 under the name 'Francis Ferriere'. His known London addresses during this period were:
1793 - At Mr. Chalon's, High Street, Kensington
1794 - 3 Bedford Street
1795 - 15 Cleveland Street, Tottenham Court Road
1796 - 4 York Street, Queen Anne Street East
1800-1804 - 65 Queen Anne Street
Painted by François Ferrière
Signed and dated 1797.
A portrait of possibly Madame Danloux
wife of the artist
Henri-Pierre Danloux
After spending several years travelling to St. Petersburg and Moscow,
he returned to Britain, this time remaining between 1816-1822, and again exhibited at the Royal Academy
from the following addresses:
1817 - 41 Grafton Street East
1818-1822 - 59 Upper Marylebone Street
His fine work was acknowledged in The Literary Gazette,
with the artist writing to the publication to complain in 1820, to which they responded:
'We acknowledge a letter from Mr. Francois Ferrière. He informs us that as an artist of considerable talents has become his enemy because the Literary Gazette spoke so highly of his performance and not noticed some productions of his adversary. Alike unknown to us, we can only advise Mr. Ferrière to disregard the detractions of envy. Of his works we spoke as we thought, doing common justice to a foreigner, certainly not at the expense of any other artists; and still consider them to be the cleverest specimens of the deceptive ever seen in this country.'
It would be fascinating to know the name of Ferrière's adversary! By 1820, many of the most famous names had disappeared from the scene: Richard Cosway, John Smart, Jeremiah Meyer, Samuel Shelley, Andrew Plimer, James Scouler..... Amongst those still working and popular would have been John Cox Dillman Engleheart, Henry Burch, Peter Paillou, Horace Hone, Andrew Robertson, Sir William Charles Ross and Sir William Newton.
Painted by François Ferrière
c.1812
An unknown Gentleman
Leaving Britain for the last time in 1822, he returned to Switzerland,
where his wife Marie Antoinette died in Geneva three years later.
Ferrière died 25th December 1839 in Morges, Switzerland.
