Louis-Marie Autissier

[1] According to Marjorie E. Wieseman, curator of European painting, at the Cincinnati Art Museum, "Autissier's success as a miniaturist was in large measure due to his talent as a colourist and his meticulous detailing of costumes and accessory."

He exhibited works regularly at Salons in Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Paris; and was much employed in painting miniature portraits of the sovereigns, nobility, and celebrities of Belgium and the Netherlands.

[2] Returning to Brussels in 1809, Autisier painted a portrait of the duke of Wellington in 1817 and, later in Paris, King Louis XVIII and members of the royal family.

[2] Autissier exhibited two sorts of miniatures at the annual Salons: portraits of his most prestigious clients and, from 1811, "fancy pictures," or idealized genre subjects, generally made for sale on the open market rather than on commission[4] These attractive studies of young women are described in the Salon catalogues as "portraits idéal," "études de fantaisie," or "figures de fantaisie," and generally priced between 400 and 600 francs, a considerable sum for the period.

Many of the models in these miniatures wear the regional costume of Belgium and the Netherlands; others are more exotically clad in Circassian, Portuguese, or English dress.