jean Joseph Vaudechamp (French, 1790-1866, active New Orleans, 1831- 39), "Portrait of a Barillier Ancestor", oil on canvas, signed and dated "1830' upper left, 29in. x 23.5in. E10000-15000 Provenance: Descended in the Louis Barillier family of Magnolia Mound Plantation, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Note: Louis Barillier was born in Europe in 1830 and emigrated with his parents to the U.S. shortly thereafter. By family repute, they brought this portrait with them. Louis purchased Magnolia Mound Plantation in Baton Rouge in 1885 with three other partners whom he subsequently bought out in 1889 With his family, Barillier would be the last owner of Magnolia Mound to operate it as a cotton and sugar plantation. After Louis' death in 1903, his heirs sold Magnolia Mound. he had twelve children, and it is through the family of one of them that the painting has descended. Jean Joseph Vaudechamp first came to New Orleans at the age of forty one in 1831 This portrait was executed in 1830, making the work of Parisian date and even more rare than a Vaudechamp of a New Orleans date (active 1831-39 Notably, it links Vaudechamp, one year prior to his actual arrival in New Orleans, to the French settlers in Louisiana. Although he exhibited portraits and historical pictures at the Paris Salons from 1817 to 1848, there are only records of two paintings (both portraits) which he executed in France. Furthermore, the location of these works is not known. Indeed, a Vaudechamp was sold in France at the sale of Edgar Degas' paintings upon the latter's death. However, this is due to the fact that when Degas visited his family in New Orleans in 1873, he was so impressed with the portraits left by Vaudechamp, that he took one with him on his return to France. The recognition of Vaudechamp's skill by one of the greatest masters of Western art attests to the enduring appreciation of his work in the modern era of Louisiana history. References: Bannon, Lois Elmer, Martha Yancey Carr, and Gwen Anders Edwards, Magnolia Mound: A Louisiana River Plantation, Pelican Publishing Co., Gretna, 1984 Poesch, Jessie, The Art of the Old South/painting, Sculpture, Architecture and the Products of Craftsmen. 1560-1860, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1983 Farwell, Lynne, "jean Joseph Vaudechamp and New Orleans", The Magazine Antiques, Sept. 1968, p. 371-375 Jordan, George, "Louisiana Portraits", Historic New Orleans Collection Vaudechamp Artist file.