Louisiana School
(Second Half 19th Century)

"Portrait of a Prominent Young Lady"

oil on linen
unsigned.
Framed.
30" x 25", framed 37-3/4" x 33"

Note: This fine portrait exemplifies Louisiana portraiture in the mid-19th century, combining Neoclassical representation with frank rusticity. Classical-style paintings, marked by strong lighting, fine detail and a polished finish, appealed to the burgeoning French Creole class of merchants and plantation owners eager to commemorate their success in the new world. Jean-Jacques Vaudechamp and Albert Boisseau, two classically trained French artists seeking a more lucrative painting market abroad, created some of the earliest and most successful commissions; rendered in three-quarter to full profile, the sitters occupy the entire picture plane and dominate the landscape, fields and finery before which they are placed, evoking a sense of pride and mastery. The grandeur with which Vaudechamp and Boisseau captured the sitters laid the foundation for successive portraits by other itinerant artists (such as the work offered here or those by George Coulon, Adolph Rinck and C.R. Parker), who emulated the composition and successfully captured the scale and importance of the sitter in a distinctly American fashion without the opulence of Neoclassical lighting.