Lot 1083: Raymond Auguste Quinsac Monvoisin (French,

Raymond Auguste Quinsac Monvoisin (French, 1794-1870), "A Midnight Renunciation", oil on canvas, signed lower left, 18 in. x 15 in., framed.

Note: Monvoisin initially trained as a military engineer before deciding to concentrate on painting. He studied with Pierre La Cour (1774-1814) at the Academie in Bordeaux, at l'École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and at the atelier of Pierre Narcisse Guerin (1174-1833). Monvoisin had his first exhibition in 1819 at the Louvre, and soon began exhibiting regularly at the Paris Salon. He won the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome and received a scholarship that allowed him to spend three years in Italy studying at the Villa Medici. In the 1840s, at the invitation of the Chilean government, Monvoisin traveled to Chile and Argentina where he became a very popular portrait painter, completing over 600 works. He returned to France in 1858 where he resumed exhibiting at the Paris Salon. Monvoisin was a recipient of la Légion d'Honneur, and his work is in the permanent ollections of museums across France and South America. Reference: Bénézit. Dictionnaire des Peintres, Librairie Grund, 1976, vol.7, p. 509