Louis Gustave Ricard (1823 - 1873) was a French painter born in Marseilles, and studied first under Auber in his native town, and subsequently under Coignet in Paris. The formation of his masterly, distinguished style in portraiture was, however, due rather to ten years intelligent copying of the old masters at the Louvre and at the [Italian galleries, than to any school training. He was a master of technique, and his portraits about two hundred reveal an extraordinary insight into the character of his sitters. Nevertheless, for some time after his death his name was almost forgotten by the public, and it was only later that he has been conceded the position among the leading masters of the modern French school which is his due. A portrait of himself, and one of Alfred de Musset, were at the Luxembourg Gallery. Among his best known works are the portrait of his mother, and those of the painters Fromentin, Heilbuth and Chaplin.

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