François Cachoud 1866-1943
François Charles Cachoud was born on October 23, 1866, in Chambéry, at his parents’ home. The son of bakers and pastry chefs, he grew up alongside his three sisters: Angeline, Joséphine, and Julie. From an early age, he showed a strong aptitude for the arts, drawing with confidence and displaying diligence and attentiveness in his studies.
In 1883, after completing his schooling, he entered the administration of the Ponts-et-Chaussées, beginning a professional path shared by other local artists. Now a young man of refined appearance, often seen strolling the streets of Chambéry in his suits, he passed regularly under the arcades of rue de Boigne, where his parents ran their bakery. There, he would often stop before the window of Laurent Janin’s Aux Beaux-Arts. His passion for drawing remained constant. Like his friend Ernest Filliard, a future watercolorist, Cachoud enrolled in the classes of Benoît Molin at the École de Peinture de Chambéry, where he learned the fundamentals of art, including drawing, watercolor, charcoal, and oil painting.
The year 1889 proved decisive for the young artist. The Académie de Savoie awarded him the Prix Guy, and the Chambéry City Council granted him a scholarship. At 23, he left Savoie for Paris to study at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, becoming successively a pupil of Jules-Elie Delaunay and then Gustave Moreau. From 1892 to 1940, he exhibited at the salons of the Société des Artistes Français, as well as in other collective exhibitions, including those of the Union Artistique de Savoie and the Société Savoisienne des Beaux-Arts. He quickly specialized in night landscapes, establishing a distinctive style.
In 1896, he married Rosine Veleine and continued to spend time in Savoie. In 1899, he became an official painter of the French Navy and contributed to the decoration of a transatlantic liner. His reputation grew steadily, and he became a professional painter. The Galeries Georges Petit gave him broad exposure, exhibiting his works in 1908, 1911, and 1914.
At the 1902 Salon des Artistes Français, American painter Alexander Harrison purchased his painting L’Heure du Grillon à Bouvans (Savoie) for the Philadelphia Museum. The following year, the French State acquired Retour des champs, aux premiers rayons de lune; St-Alban-de-Montbel (Savoie), now held in deposit at the Musée de Grenoble. At the request of the Compagnie P.L.M., Cachoud executed a large panel depicting Lake Annecy for the ceiling of the Buffet at the Gare de Lyon.
He received numerous awards throughout his career: an Honorable Mention at the Salon in 1893, a third-class medal in 1896, a second-class medal in 1902, and was eventually placed hors concours. In 1910, he was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur. François Cachoud passed away in 1943 at St-Alban-de-Montbel, near his beloved Lake Aiguebelette.
