Auguste Borget (1808–1877) was a French artist known for his drawings and prints of exotic places, in particular China. He was born in 1808 in

Issoudun Issoudun () is a commune in the Indre department, administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is also referred to as ''Issoundun'', which is the ancient name. Geography Location Issoudun is a sub-prefecture, located in the eas ...

, Indre. At age 21, he went to Paris where he became a close friend of

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

. Borget periodically 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 ...

from 1836 to 1859. Beginning in 1836, he traveled through North and South America before stopping briefly in Honolulu in May, 1838, on board the ship "Psyche", on a world tour.Severson, 2002 He went to Canton in September 1838 and stayed in the region for 10 months. While in Canton, he met the English artist

George Chinnery George Chinnery (; 5 January 1774 – 30 May 1852) was an English painter who spent most of his life in Asia, especially India and Northern and southern China, southern China. Early life Chinnery was born in London, where he studied a ...

, and they went on sketching trips together. In July 1839 he visited Manila, Singapore and Calcutta. In 1840 he traveled widely in India, returning to Paris in the summer of that year. Borget’s sketches and watercolors from China were the basis for his most famous publication "Sketches of China and the Chinese", published in 1842. His book "La Chine ouverte" was illustrated with fine woodcut engravings. A major Salon of his original works, including watercolors and boldly executed oil paintings was held in Paris in 1843. Borget died in 1877. The

Hong Kong Museum of Art The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) is the first and one of the main art museums of Hong Kong, located in located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, near the Victoria Harbour waterfront, providing a scenic view of Hong Kong’s skyline. It is a publ ...

, the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single co ...

, Musée Bertrand (Châteauroux, France), Musée de la Roche (Issoudun, France) and the

National Museum of Singapore The National Museum of Singapore is a public museum dedicated to Singaporean art, culture and history. Located within the country's Civic District at the Downtown Core area, it is the oldest museum in the country, with its history dating back to ...

are among the public collections holding works by Auguste Borget.

Notes

References

* Borget, Auguste (1842). ''Sketches of China and the Chinese; from drawings by Auguste Borget''. London: Tilt and Bogue. * Forbes, David W (1992). ''Encounters with Paradise: Views of Hawaii and Its People, 1778-1941''. Honolulu Academy of Arts pp. 90–110. * Forgues, Emile Daurand (1845).
La Chine ouverte; aventures d'un fan-kouei dans le pays de Tsin, par Old Nick Ouvrage illustré par Auguste Borget
'. Paris: H. Fournier. * Hutcheon, Robin (1979). ''Souvenirs of Auguste Borget''. SCMP Publication, Hong Kong. * Severson, Don R (2002). ''Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections''. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 75–76. {{DEFAULTSORT:Borget, Auguste 1808 births 1877 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters French draughtsmen Hawaii artists People from Issoudun French expatriates in China 19th-century French male artists