Gabriel Marie Biessy - Sunrise Off The Coast Of Dakar - Senegal - Africa - Located - C. 1905

Gabriel Biessy was a traveling painter whose work consists primarily of portraits, views of Paris, and landscapes of Africa, America, and Europe. He had a particular fondness for night scenes, or sunrises and sunsets. After a stay in Bordeaux, he began his training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon under Félix Clément, before joining the studios of Carolus-Duran and Luc-Olivier Merson in Paris in 1879. He exhibited his first portraits at the Salon of 1882, then embarked on numerous journeys, notably to Holland, Portugal, Senegal, and especially South America. A regular participant in the Salon of the Société nationale des beaux-arts, he obtained an honorable mention there in 1883. Elected a member in 1895, he was also distinguished on several occasions, notably receiving an honorable mention at the Universal Exhibition of 1889 and the Legion of Honour on January 22, 1902. At the end of his career, Biessy held the position of director of Fine Arts in Cairo before retiring to Bourg-la-Reine in the Parisian suburbs.