Gignoux, Regis

A snow scene specialist and known for his sentimental and detailed views of Niagara Falls and New England and Virginia, Regis Francois Gignoux was born in Lyon, France, and studied at the Eçole des Beaux-Arts under Paul Delaroche.  He chose snowscenes as his specialty to distinguish his work from his other contemporary Hudson River Valley School painters.  George Inness was one of his students.

He first came to America in 1840 because of his interest in a woman, whom he later married.  However, he was so taken with the scenery he decided to stay, and he received numerous commissions for his work which was in the precise academic style of that period.  He settled in Brooklyn where he served as the first president of the Brooklyn Art Association.  He was a member of the National Academy of Design with whom he exhibited.

By 1870, he returned to France, dying in Paris in 1882.

Sources include:
Michael David Zellman, 300 Years of American Art
Matthew Baigell, Dictionary of American Art
Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art