Charles Giroux French-New Orleans, b. 1828, act. New Orleans 1868- 1885, "Louisiana Bayou Settlement", oil on canvas, signed lower right 14 1/8in. x 24 118in., original gilt and stenciled frame. E30000- 50000 Provenance: Descended in the du Quesnay family of Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans. Adolphe Le Merder du Quesnay was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1839, and emigrated to New Orleans in 1860 A writer and professor of music, du Quesnay was educated at Versailles and in Paris, and studied under Malandan. Another notable family member was Marie Arthur Guillaume du Quesnay, who was born in Jamaica in 1809, educated at Poitou and Rennes and emigrated to New Orleans c 1840 he served as rector of St. Louis Cathedral from 1855 until his death in 1858 .Ref.: Glenn R. Conrad, A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography pgs. 272-273 Note: Giroux is a somewhat mysterious figure in Louisiana art. There is very little substantive information on his life, most has been pieced together through other facts. It is however, known that he was a member of the Southern Art Union and the Artists' Association of New Orleans. Mainly a landscape artist, Giroux's style and palette are very unique to Louisiana painting at this time. his paintings have a very romantic, luminist quality achieved through using thin layers of paint. This "glow" communicates a transcendental calm and serenity that bespeaks the genteel Southern life. Ref: Down Currents of Style in Louisiana Painting 1800-1950, Estill Curtis Pennington Pelican Publishing Co., 1991, p. 88-89 Encyclopaedia of New Orleans Artists 1718-1918, The Historic New Orleans Collection, p. 158