Autissier, Louis-Marie

(1772-1830)

   A noted painter of miniature portraits, Louis-Marie Autissier was born in Vannes, France, on 8 February 1772. He studied in Vannes and Paris before moving to Brussels in 1795. He went to the Netherlands in 1806, where he secured a patent as painter to Louis Bonaparte and completed portraits of the Dutch aristocracy. Returning to Brussels in 1809, Autissier painted a portrait of the duke of Wellington in 1817 and, later in Paris, King Louis XVIII and members of the royal family. Altogether his paintings include more than 250 miniatures. He is known for those that depict figures in local costumes of Brussels (Marchand de gauffres de Bruxelles, Waffle merchant of Brussels). Autissier died penniless in Brussels on 4 September 1830.