Raymond Auguste Quinsac Monvoisin (May 31, 1790 – March 26, 1870) was a French artist and painter.
Monvoisin was born inBordeaux. Although he initiated a career in the military by indication of his father, at the age of eighteen Monvoisin fully dedicated himself to painting. He moved from Bordeaux toParis and was employed at the workshop ofPierre Guérin, with whom he worked in theneoclassic and mythologic themes that were center of attention by artists and scholars at the time. He studied in theAcadémie des Beaux-Arts of France, and his work soon earned him the support of the critics. His works achieved commercial success. He was hired by merchants, bankers and other members of the newly emerging middle-class. In 1819 he carried out his first exposition in the Museum of theLouvre. The fame he achieved in his own country earned him theLegion of Honor. After obtaining recognition in Paris, he travelled toItaly where he obtained a scholarship to study inVilla Medici in Rome.
Interested in the opportunities in the newly independent Americas, Monvoisin travelled toArgentina and from there toChile. He received an official invitation from the Chilean government to direct theAcademy of Painting which was officially created on March 17, 1848. With almost no funds, he arrived atSantiago. Preceded by his fame, he was introduced to the high-class families of the capital and, in turn, to work as a successful portrait painter. His works had a decisive influence in the new Chilean society, which acquired the inclinations of European fashion, especially French.
He dedicated his efforts to many different activities during his stay in Chile. He traveled through the country, invested in mines, and created a ranching estate. His first years as a drawing professor in Paris helped in forming notable artists of the time likeFrancisco Mandiola andProcesa Sarmiento. Along with French painterClara Filleul, he mobilized the pictorial art in Chile and Argentina. He was elevated to a Knight of theLegion of Honor in 1857,[1] and returned to France in 1858, but his fame had vanished.
He died in poverty in 1870 atBoulogne-sur-Mer.
Media related toRaymond Monvoisin at Wikimedia Commons
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