Lot 406: Jacques Guillaume Lucien Amans (Dutch/French/New

Jacques Guillaume Lucien Amans (Dutch/French/New Orleans, 1801-1888), "Portrait of a Creole Gentleman", oil on canvas, unsigned, 36 in. x 28 3/4 in., in a period giltwood frame. Note: Likely an acquaintance of Jean Joseph Vaudechamp and certainly aware of his success as a portrait painter during his seasonal visits to New Orleans, Jacques Amans arrived in Louisiana in the late 1830s in search of portrait commissions. Trained in the tradition of the French neoclassical painters, Amans was well received by Creole society and earned numerous commissions from wealthy planters and cottons brokers. In the charming "Portrait of a Creole Gentleman", Amans employed his typical pose of a three-quarter length seated figure with emphasis on his hands and face. Aman's portraits have a softer edge and more fluid lush brushwork than the work of Vaudechamp.