Biography of 	Bernard, Francois Orleans Parish, LA
Submitted by	Colleen Fitzpatrick April 1999

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Bernard, Francois

Born France ca. 1812
Painter, art teacher, active N.O. ca. 1856 - 1875

Studied with Paul Delaroche

Contemporary listings:  

portrait painter, 105 Canal (1856 - 1858); 
portrait painter, c. Carondelet and Canal (1859); 
portrait painter, 146 Customhouse (1860, 1866, 1868 - 1869);
portrait painter, 146 Customhouse (1867); 
portrait painter (1870 - 1872).

Exhibited: 

Wagener's (1867); 
Grand State Fair (1868); 
Wagener & Meyer's (1869 - 1871); 
American Exposition (1885 - 1886).

Awarded:

Grand State Fair, silver medal for best head in oil (1869).

Portrait, landscape, and genre painter, Bernard is known in LA primarily for his portraits in
oil, pastel, and watercolor.  His portraits of LA residents are dated as early as 1848, but he
is first recorded in N.O. during an 1856 visit.  Bernard returned in Dec. 1856 to settle in
N.O., supposedly at the invitation of a group of sugar planters who wanted him to paint their
portraits.  He worked in N.O. during the winter months and traveled as an itinerant painter in
the summer.  It is probable that Bernard returned to France during these travels, since his
children were born there (ca. 1857 and ca. 1862).  He seems to have left N.O. during the Civil
War and traveled, especially around Mandeville, LA where he painted local Indians.  In Feb. 1867
it was reported that he had returned to the city.  He taught drawing to Alexandre Alaux and
advised the continuation of his studies in Europe.  Bernard left N.O. for Peru (ca. 1875).
Possibly Francois Bernard born Nimes, France, Feb. 8, 1814; studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts
at Paris and Collin' and exhibited in the Paris salon between 1842 and 1849.

References:

NOCD 1866 - 1872
NOBD 1858
Bee                 Dec. 9, 1856
                    Nov. 2 -3, 1859
                    Nov. 9, 1860
                    Dec. 8, 1867
                    Dec. 19, 1869
                    Nov. 6, 1870
Present Age,        Feb. 1871, p. 22
Times               Feb. 3, 1867
T. Pic.             May 13, 1923
                    May 1, 1938
                    June 26. 1938

Barker              p. 400;
Benezit;
Bruns               p. 310
Coulon MS Scrapbook 100, LSM
Creole Exhibit      p. 10, 13
Glenk               p. 46,73
Groce and Wallace
Harter and Tucker   p. 118;
LeBreton            p. 385
LSM, Annual Report for 1918    p. 16
LSM, Biennial Report for 1918  p. 100 - 101
LSM, Biennial Report for 1920 - 1921  p. 90
LSM, Biennial Report for 1924 - 1925  p. 26
LSM, Biennial Report for 1926 - 1927  p. 28
LSM, Biennial Report for 1928 - 1929  p. 70
Mechanics' and Agricultural Fair Asso., Report (1869) - p. 98
Norton Art Gallery  p. 4;
Orr, Seebold, Vol. 1,   p. 22, 29
U.S. Census (1870)      roll. 521
Wiesendanger,           p. 10-12

Source: Encyclopedia of New Orleans Artists 1718- 1918
        The Historical New Orleans Collection, 533 Royal St., New Orleans, LA  70130