Auguste Borget was a French artist who is best known for his drawings and prints of exotic places, in particular China. He was born in 1808 in Issoudun

Issoudun

Issoudun is a commune in the Indre department in central France. It is also referred to as Issoundun, which is the ancient name.-History:...

, Indre

Indre

Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

. At age 21, he went to Paris where he became a close friend of Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac

Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....

. Borget periodically exhibited at the Paris Salon 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. 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

George Chinnery was an English painter who spent most of his life in Asia, especially India and southern China.- Early life :Chinnery was born in London, where he studied at the Royal Academy Schools...

, 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

Hong Kong Museum of Art

The Hong Kong Museum of Art is the main art museum of Hong Kong. The museum was established as the City Hall Museum and Art Gallery in the City Hall in Central by the Urban Council in 1962. In 1991, it was moved to the present premises at 10 Salisbury Road, near the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and...

, the Honolulu Academy of Arts

Honolulu Academy of Arts

The Honolulu Academy of Arts is an art museum in Honolulu in the state of Hawaii. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art.-Description:...

, Musée Bertrand (Châteauroux, France), Musée de la Roche (Issoudun, France) and the National Museum of Singapore

National Museum of Singapore

The National Museum of Singapore is a national museum in Singapore and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution...

are among the public collections holding works by Auguste Borget.

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