Marie Adrien Persac

French, 1823–1873

Born in France, Persac came to Louisiana in about 1851. He lived first in Baton Rouge, and married Marie Odile Daigre. Persac had a background in engineering, and drew property maps for the Notarial Archives in New Orleans. He was also an accomplished artist and lithographer. Persac worked with Louis Lucien Pessou (c. 1825–1886), apparently a free man of color, and German immigrant Benedict Simon (1824–1878), owners of the lithography firm Pessou & Simon (1853–1867). Persac contributed both design and lithography. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, he made a number of topographical gouache drawings of plantation houses in Louisiana on commission or, reportedly, as barter for room and board. Persac also briefly operated a photographic studio in the 1850s with William G. Vail. He died in Manchac.

Olivier Plantation, Orange Grove
Marie Adrien Persac, 1861
Gouache and collage on paper, 15 ¾ x 22 inches.
Loan of Mrs. Rene T. Beauregard, Louisiana State Museum 07155

Persac placed the main plantation house on the left side, with flanking garçonniers and cisterns, on the east bank of the Teche. To the right, he depicted the sugar house, a pigeonnier near the center middle distance, and a floating pontoon bridge with a small edifice for a water pump to the right. Everything is delineated with a high degree of precision. Many of the figures are engravings cut from periodicals such as Godey's Ladies Book and painted over by the artist.

Dr. John Dominique's Store
Marie Adrien Persac, 1857
Gouache and collage on paper, 23 ½ x 27 inches
Gift of Mr. Emile Dominique, Jr., Louisiana State Museum 1969.007

John Dominique's store was located in Ascension Parish. It served nearby plantations with dry goods, liquors and wines, and equipment. Persac appears to have lived on the property for a time and gave the drawing to Dominique as a present. The store is built of brick and masonry in a timid Greek Revival style and also served as the owner's domicile.

Bois de Flèche Plantation
Marie Adrien Persac, 1861
Gouache and collage on paper, 23 ½ x 27 inches
Gift of Mr. Emile Dominique, Jr., Louisiana State Museum 1990.049.1

This view of a plantation in St. Martin Parish shows the main house, kitchen, and other outbuildings needed for the operation of the complex. Of special note are the cotton presses at the left and the vegetable garden in the foreground. It was owned by the family of Francisco Christophe Chevalier de L'Homme (1779 - 1856). He married Marie Charlotte Declouet on in August 1809 at St. Martin de Tours Church in St. Martinville, Louisiana. The gouache drawing was identified previously as a depiction of Albania Plantation.

Select Works on Paper by Artist