Pierre Ozanne was the brother of Nicolas-Marie Ozanne, the landscape painter. Pierre studied drawing and engraving with his brother and became Dessinateur de la Marine. He later became a sailor and eventually a captain. An important group of drawings by this artist is in the Louvre.
Gorée is an island off Senegal where Ozanne must have made frequent stops as it was the staging post for slaves to be shipped to the Americas. A similar drawing of a woman from Gorée signed 'P. Ozanne' was sold at Christie's, London, 6 December 1988, lot 148, illustrated