Landscape with Man Fishing

Renowned for his meticulous renderings of Northeast American landscapes, Regis François Gignoux was born in Lyon, France, and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under the historical painter Hippolyle Paul Délaroche. It was Délaroche who inspired Gignoux to turn his talents toward landscape painting. Gignoux moved to America in 1840 and eventually settled in Brooklyn where he served as the first President of the Brooklyn Art Association, and became an established member of the National Academy of Design. Collectors began considering Gignoux's landscapes essential to their collections and commissions followed beyond his ability to produce. His popularity as a landscape painter and teacher began to attract numerous students, and his most noted was George Inness, who briefly studied with him in 1843.

By 1844, Gignoux had opened a studio in New York City becoming one the first to join the illustrious group at the famous Tenth Street Studio, where other members included Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, Jasper Francis Cropsey, and John Frederick Kensett. Gignoux returned to Paris in 1870, where he resided until his death in 1882.