Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Alexander Alaux Notebook, (Z/0010).
Creator/Collector: Alexander Alaux.
Date(s): 1928.
Size: 0.30 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff; Redescribed, Laura Heller, 2023.
Provenance: Gift of unknown donor before 1983.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: Alexander Alaux Notebook (Z/0010), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

Alexander Alaux

Alexander Alaux was born in Commercy, Lorraine, France, in March 1851. He arrived in New Orleans with his mother in 1855 via New York. Alexander was first recognized for his art when awarded four silver medals at the New Orleans Fair Exposition in 1869, and he received a gold medal from King Leopold II of Belgium.  Alexander studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, in Brussels, Belgium, receiving his diploma in 1878. He worked as an artist and professor. He studied under artists such as Bernard, Ciceri, and Philastre while in New Orleans. He was a noted painter of portraits, miniatures, and historical pieces. His works of art are included in collections of the Gallery of Leopold II in Brussels, in the Museum of Arlon in Belgium, in the Museum of Richmond, Louisiana State Museum, and in the Historic New Orleans Collection. Alexander became successful in doing miniatures, portraits, historical tableaux, marine, genre, still life, and religious paintings.

Alexander married Julie Alaux in 1882, and the couple had two daughters and one son: Marie Fernande Alaux (1883-1958), Louisa Antoinette Alaux (1894-1963), and Louis Albert S. Alaux (1885-1904). In 1899, Alexander returned to New Orleans with his eldest daughter Marie.  On May 20, 1910, Julia Alaux and her daughter Louisa boarded the S.S. Virginia which departed from Havre, France, and arrived on June 19, 1910, at the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana.  All of his children attended primary school in Belgium before arriving in the United States. Louis Albert was a professional sketch artist, having studied at the College of the Immaculate Conception in New Orleans. Marie regularly assisted her father, however, she became a well-known artist in Louisiana of her own making. Louisa helped with historical research and notes.

Alexander Alaux died in 1932, though it is unknown where he is buried. Louisa Alaux died on July 24, 1963, at the age of 70, in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Louis Albert Alaux drowned in Lake Pontchartrain on August 10, 1904, when the steamer ship New Camellia sank. 

 

Scope and Content Note:

This volume of notes was recorded by Louisa Antoinette Alaux. Alexander Alaux used these notes to complete his painting, “DeSoto Discovers the Mississippi.” The painting was commissioned in 1928 by Dunbar Rowland, Director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, as the first in a series of historical paintings for the Department. Alaux completed one large painting and several portraits of Mississippi Senators. He was assisted by his daughter, Marie Alaux. “DeSoto Discovers the Mississippi” hung in the State Historical Museum. It measures 9 feet x 15 feet.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Notebook. 1928.

The notebook, created by Louisa Antoinette Alaux and used by the portrait painted Alexander Alux, contains 33 pages of notes. Contents include descriptions of various animals, Indians, and landscape types found in the painting. Measurements of the notebook: 16.5 cm. by 21 cm.

Box 1, folder 1

 

Box List:

Box 1
Folder 1: Notebook, 1928 (33 pages).