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Louis William Desanges

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Louis William Desanges; Chevalier Desanges (1822–1905) was an English artist of French background, known today for his paintings of Victoria Cross winners.

Life

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Born in Bexley, Kent, he was the great grandson of a French nobleman who had settled in England 80 years before and, as a consequence, the artist used the title 'Chevalier'. He travelled in France and Italy before settling in London in 1845; he later travelled to India. At first his pictures were of an historical nature, but he turned more to portrait painting as it was more lucrative.

"Sergeant Luke O'Connor Winning the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Alma."
"Thomas Henry Kavanagh being disguised as a sepoy during the Siege of Lucknow."
Lt Francis Farquharson winning his Victoria Cross at the Battle of Lucknow, 1858 by Louis William Desanges

While painting a portrait of Lieut. Col. Robert James Lindsay who had won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of the Alma at his home in Wantage, the two men came up with idea of creating a series of paintings containing portraits of the various soldiers winning their V.C. medals. Many of these were exhibited at the Egyptian Gallery in Piccadilly, and 47 of the paintings were exhibited at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham in 1862. In 1900, the majority of them were acquired by Lord Wantage and hung in the Victoria Cross Gallery. In all, fifty oil paintings were painted by the artist between 1859 and 1862. The gallery was broken up in the 20th century and the paintings dispersed to various collections, particularly to the regiments represented. Desanges also painted several other military scenes, including a depiction of General Sir Garnet Wolseley during the Ashanti War entitled Fighting in the Ashantee Forest. This had been commissioned by the proprietors of the Illustrated London News and exhibited at Willis's Rooms in London in 1874, and was reproduced as a special supplement wood-engraving in the Illustrated London News on 1 August 1874. The artist composed his picture using sketches provided by Melton Prior, and various officers sat for him. Another military painting by Desanges depicted the March of General Roberts from Cabul to Candahar which was exhibited at the Jennings Gallery, Cheapside, in the spring of 1883. The picture was literally crammed with portraits of many of the participants.

Desanges also exhibited works at the Royal Academy between 1846 and 1887, many of which were portraits, but in 1862, he showed a large battle scene of Battle of Inkermann (now destroyed).

Sources give conflicting and erroneous dates for his death. In fact, the abstract of his will shows that he died on 2 October 1905 at Vine House, West Drayton, Middlesex. He left an estate valued at £2,399.

Victoria Cross Paintings

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Crimean War

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Indian Mutiny

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Persian War

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China War

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Gambia

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  • Private Samuel Hodge, 4th West India Regiment, winning the V.C. at Tubabakolong, Gambia, 1866 (St. John's Hall, Penzance, Cornwall)

Afghanistan

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Further reading

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  • Barthorp, Michael, "The Desanges V.C. Paintings," Soldiers of the Queen No. 67, December 1991, pp. 2–6.
  • Catalogue of the series of historical pictures by Chevalier L. W. Desanges . Wantage: Wantage Town Council, 2000.
  • 1859: Catalogue of the first series of historical pictures by L. W. Desanges, illustrating actions which have won the Victoria Cross. London: Victoria Cross Gallery, 1859.
  • Harrington, Peter. (1993). British Artists and War: The Face of Battle in Paintings and Prints, 1700-1914. London: Greenhill ISBN 1-85367-157-6
  • Hichberger, J. W. M., "Democratizing Glory? The Victoria Cross Paintings of Louis Desanges," Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2, 1984, pp. 42–51.
  • Forest, Field and Flood: being stories of adventures in sport, travel and war. London: Ward, Lock & Bowden, [1895?] Contents: Wild sports of the world (426 pp.); Brave British soldiers and the Victoria Cross (30 chapters mostly on VCs of the Crimean and other wars, 383 pp.); The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (384 pp)
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