Alfred Boisseau (1823–1901) was an American/Canadian artist who was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He was known as a painter and photographer, who specialized in paintings of North American Natives and the West. As a young man in his 20s, Boisseau immigrated to the United States, settling first in New Orleans, where his brother was working for the French consul. Except for a brief visit to Paris, he lived and worked in North America for the rest of his life. From 1848 Boisseau lived and worked in New York City and later in Cleveland. In 1860 he moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and later to

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada in the western part of the country.

Biography

Alfred Boisseau was born in Paris, France. He had an older brother who later served in government and the diplomatic corps. Becoming interested in art, Boisseau studied under

Paul Delaroche Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (; Paris, 17 July 1797 – Paris, 4 November 1856) was a French painter who achieved his greater successes painting historical scenes. He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subje ...

, a fashionable Paris artist whose style combined neo-classicism and romanticism. In his early 20s, Boisseau moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, living there from 1845 to 1847, while his brother served as secretary to the French consul. Boisseau painted his first works on Native American themes - mostly of members of the

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

nation who were historically based in Louisiana and Mississippi. He returned to Paris, where his painting ''Louisiana Indians Walking Along a Bayou'' (1847), now in the permanent collection of the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest art museum, fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans. It is situated within City Park (New Orleans), City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton ...

, was exhibited at the

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

of 1848. After that Boisseau sailed back to the United States, settling in New York City. There he taught art from 1849 to 1852. By 1852 Boisseau was working as a daguerreotypist in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. He also advertised as a portrait and landscape painter, art teacher and art dealer. In 1860 he moved to Canada, where he opened a succession of three photographic studios in

. While working as secretary and bibliographer to the

Institut canadien de Montréal The Institut canadien de Montréal (, ) was founded on 17 December 1844, by a group of 200 young liberal professionals in Montreal, Canada East, Province of Canada. The Institute provided a public library and debating room for its members. At ...

, he completed several paintings.Boisseau, A. (1870). ''Catalogue des livres de la bibliothèque de l'Institut-canadien, Montréal'': Alphonse Doutre, 47 p. Near the end of his life, he moved to western Canada, where he opened a studio in

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

. There he produced paintings of Plains Indian natives. He returned to the United States and died in Buffalo, New York in 1901 where he is interred.

Images

File:Louisiana Indians Walking Along a Bayou - Alfred Boisseau (New Orleans Mus of Art 56.34).jpg, ''Louisiana Indians Walking Along a Bayou'' (1847), Alfred Boisseau File:Montreal-street-scene Alfred Boisseau.jpg, ''Montreal Street Scene'' (1890), Boisseau

References

External links

* Biography of Boisseau

New Orleans Museum of Art: Boisseau in collection 1823 births 1901 deaths French emigrants Immigrants to the United States French emigrants to pre-Confederation Canada Province of Canada people 19th-century Canadian male artists 19th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters Members of the Institut canadien de Montréal Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts {{Canada-painter-stub