Auguste-Xavier Leprince

1799 – 1826

French painter and printmaker. He was the son and pupil of the painter and lithographer Anne Pierre Leprince, and he was the elder brother of the painters Robert Leopold Leprince (1800-1847) and Gustave Leprince (1810-1837). He received a medal at his first Salon of 1819 for one of six entries, five of which were landscapes of 17th century Dutch inspiration, which came possibly via the work of Jean-Louis Demarne. Leprince quickly learned to vary the contents of his paintings: at the Salon of 1822 his entries included three Paris street scenes, three portraits and two scenes on board a frigate. His numerous Paris street scenes usually depicted some well known contemporary event, as in the Restoration of the Barriere du Trone (Paris, Musée Carnavalet), which is one of a series. The Embarkation of the Animals at the Port of Honfleur (1823; Paris, Musée du Louvre) shows the successful application of Leprince's interest in Bonington, not only in its composition and content but also un its direct observation. The painting was purchased by Louis XVIII at the highly competitive Salon of 1824. Also reminiscent of Bonington is the small scale contemporary history painting The Orientation (1825; Angoulême). Leprince showed himself to be a sensitive watercolour painter and lithographer, publishing a set of 12 lithographs entitled Inconveniences of a Journey by Stage Coach before his death in 1826.

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