John Lewis Brown

John Lewis Brown was a French painter and lithographer of Scottish descent. He spent his childhood in Bordeaux where he developed a love of horses. In 1841 the family moved to Paris and Brown taught himself to paint by studying artworks in museums, especially the Louvre. He first exhibited at the Salon in 1848, showing a number of his equestrian paintings. In 1852 he received a commission from the State to make a copy of Rembrandt's Christ at Emmaus. In 1859, after a five-year stay in Bordeaux, he returned to the Salon, again showing a range of his equestrian paintings. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), Brown was sent to the front line to paint battle scenes and the works that resulted concentrate on the tragic aspects of the conflict. He continued to work on military subjects for some time after this, such as Episode from the Life of Marshal Conflans (1876). In his later years he returned to equestrian and sporting subjects, producing such works as the Fox Hunters (1886). He was very influenced by the work of Edgar Degas in his later years and the Impressionists. His style was also very strongly influenced by Ernest Meissonier and the academic artist Eugene Lami.