Born in Arles in 1819, the son of the locksmith Honorat Fouque and Marguerite Barbier, Jean-Baptiste studied painting under the Arlesian painter and archaeologist François Huard.
He was awarded a scholarship from the city council of Arles, to study at the Beaux-Arts de Paris.
The first exhibition of Fouque's art was in 1846, and resulted in a steady stream of commissions for the government of the Second French Empire.
He produced portraits of both Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie de Montijo, as well as many foreign nobles and royals such as Princess Tatiana Alexandrovna Yusupova of Russia and Rama V, the King of Siam.
In addition to his portraiture, Fouque painted many allegorical and religious works.