Raymond Auguste Quinsac Monvoisin (May 31, 1790 - March 26, 1870), was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 artist and painter.

Biography

Monvoisin was born in Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

.

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 Burgundy to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, and was employed at the workshop of Pierre Guérin, with whom he worked in the neoclassic

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 and mythologic themes that were center of attention by artists and scholars at the time. He studied in the Académie des beaux-arts

Académie des beaux-arts

The Académie des Beaux-Arts is a French learned society. It is one of the five academies of the Institut de France.It was created in 1795 as the merger of the:* Académie de peinture et de sculpture...

 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 the Louvre

Louvre

The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...

. The fame he achieved in his own country earned him the Legion of Honor. After obtaining recognition in Paris, he travelled to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 where he obtained a scholarship to study in Villa Medici

Villa Medici

The Villa Medici is a mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and now property of the French...

 in Rome.

Interested in the opportunities in the newly independent Americas, Monvoisin travelled to Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 and from there to Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. He received an official invitation from the Chilean government to direct the Academy of Painting

Arts Faculty, Universidad de Chile

In 1849 was created the first Arts School in Chile, as the Painting School was founded inside the University of Chile, under the direction of painter Alejandro Cicarelli, five years later follows the Sculpture and Design School, renaming itself as the Fine Arts School, parallelly in 1849 he Music...

 which was officially created on March 17, 1848. With almost no funds, he arrived at Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

. Preceded by his fame, he was introduced to the high-class families of the capital and, in turn, to work as a successful portrayer. 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 notorious artists of the moment like Francisco Mandiola and Procesa Sarmiento. Along with French painter Clara Filleul, he mobilized the pictorial art in Chile and Argentina. He was elevated to a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1857,, and returned to France in 1858, but his fame had vanished.

He died in poverty in 1870 at Boulogne-sur-Mer

Boulogne-sur-Mer

-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....

.