Louis-François AUBRY (French, Paris 1767 - 1851 Batignolles)

Louis-François AUBRY, born February 27, 1767 in Paris and died June 16, 1851 in Batignolles, is a French painter, miniaturist, designer, collector and restorer of works of art. On March 29, 1784, AUBRY entered the Royal School of Protected Students (’École royale des élèves protégés) of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris, where the register of protected students of the Royal Academy mentions his admission as a student of Louis DURAMEAU. He was then a student of François-André VINCENT and after that took lessons from Jean-Baptiste ISABEY who was the same age as him. He was still in school in July 1791. He started at the Salon in 1798 and exhibited until 1833. His miniatures particularly appealed to the Bonapartes. At the Salon of 1804, his miniatures were noticed alongside those of Daniel SAINT and Jean-Baptiste AUGUSTIN. It seems to have been greatly appreciated by the Bonaparte family. Among his main works we cite the full-length portraits of the King and Queen of Westphalia, large miniatures that he exhibited at the Salon of 1810 and which went to England, and, at the Wallace gallery, two miniatures can be seen: Pauline BONAPARTE, Princess Borghese and another member of the imperial family. The time of its greatest success, however, was during the Restoration period and after the establishment of the July Monarchy. We quote, in particular, his portrait of Louis-Philippe's wife, Queen Amélie, which was exhibited in 1831.