François Fleischbein was a German painter who lived and worked in New Orleans.

Fleischbein was born in Godramstein, Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1804. He studied painting in Paris with Anne-Louis Girodet. In 1833, he and his wife, Marie Louis Tetu, immigrated to cosmopolitan New Orleans, thus joining the community of international painters seeking fame in Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

.
Although born Franz Joseph, Fleischbein decided to change his name to François in order to fit with his Creole clients of Gallic descent.

His paintings show a French academic style as well as a sweetness and charm common to 19th Century German painting.
With the invention of the daguerreotype

Daguerreotype

The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate....

in 1839, Fleischbein also worked as an early photographer, an enterprise in which his wife took part.