French, 1810-1880

Adolphe-Félix Cals was a French portrait, genre, and landscape painter.  Cals studied in 1828 in Cogniet’s studio at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He exhibited at the Salons beginning in 1846. In 1859, he met the Comte Doria who invited him to come and paint in his chateau d’Orrouy.

Cals was a close friend of several key figures in the Impressionist movement, particularly the painter Johan Barthold Jongkind, who is often credited with helping to pave the way for Impressionism. Cals’ work bridges the gap between earlier 19th-century artistic styles and the emerging Impressionist movement.  He exhibited with the Impressionists from the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 until 1881.