Featured 19th Century Painter: Paul de Longpre (American 1855 – 1911)
- March 10, 2021 12:25
Paul De Longpre was born to an aristocratic family in Lyons, France, which was the center of the French textile design industry and home to many flower painters. He studied at Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he studied under Jean Leo Gerome and Leon Bonnat. Although he was a well-known artist in France, he immigrated to the United States in 1890 and settled in New York City. Success followed him and he continued his artistic career as a commercial illustrator, window decorator and painter. His floral subjects for which he is best known were well received at his first New York exhibition. Paul De Longpre's paintings have been exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and he was invited to exhibit in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles. In 1899 he moved to Los Angeles California, where he earned the name, “Le Roi des Fleurs” (“The King of Flowers”). His lavish home became a tourist attraction and featured a garden of 4,000 rose bushes from which he took many of his subjects.
