James Wells Champney (American/Boston, 1843-1903, active New Orleans, 1873-74) After Jean M. Nattier (French, 1685-1766), "Louise-Marie de France dite Madame Louise (1737-1787)", pastel on canvas, signed and dated "1748" middle left, handwritten label en verso, 28.75in. x 23. 5in. E2000/4000 Note: Until 1863 when he enlisted as a soldier in the Civil War, James Wells Champney studied art at the Lowell Institute in Boston. At the end of the war, he traveled to Europe to further his art education at Academie d'Anvers and Antwerp Royal Academy. A versatile artist, Champney became known for his landscape, genre and portrait paintings. In 1873, Champney was hired by Scribner's Monthly to accompany writer Edward Smith King to New Orleans and throughout the South for a series of illustrated articles entitled "The Great South." After 1880, Champney gave up painting in oils and watercolors and devoted himself to working in pastels. Ref.: Mahe, John and Rosanne McCaffrey, Encyclopaedia of New Orleans Artists, 1718-1918, The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1987, p. 73.