FRERE Charles Théodore, said FRERE BEY (Paris, June 21st 1814 – May 24th 1888, Paris).
Elder brother of Pierre Édouard Frère, he is one of the greatest orientalist painters of the time. He stayed in Écouen. In a letter of 1855, he said he lived in the Soyer house. In 1857, he wrote from the commune to Adolphe Beugniet, the art dealer. He painted a few works of genre painting there, before moving to Montmorency (Val d’Oise), and finding his artistic path in the Middle East.
For further information, please read the book “L’Ecole d’Ecouen, une colonie de peintres au XIXe siècle” (bilingual French-English).
