Desportes, Alexandre-François

Desportes, Alexandre-François älĕksäNˈdrə-fräNswäˈ dāpôrtˈ [key], 1661–1743, French painter. He is best known for his hunting scenes and paintings of animals. Desportes, who began as a portrait painter, was among the first to paint landscapes from nature; for that practice he was held to be eccentric. His works are in the tradition of careful realism of Flemish still-life paintings. The Louvre and the Wallace Collection, London, have examples of his work.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: European Art, 1600 to the Present: Biographies