Julien Hudson
Louisiana Artist
New Orleans, LA

Julien Hudson was born on January 9, 1811, in New Orleans. His father, John T. Hudson, was a British ship chandler and ironmonger. His mother, Suzanne Desiree Marcos, was a free  New Orleans quadroon (of Caucasian and African origins). Before studying painting, Hudson was briefly a tailor’s apprentice in the mid-1820’s. He then studied with Antoine Meucci, and itinerant miniaturist painter, between 1826 and 1827. Hudson’s learning then continued in Paris with well-known artist Alexandre Abel de Pujol. After returning to New Orleans, Hudson opened his own studio on Bienville Street in 1831.

Hudson continued his work in New Orleans until his death in 1844. He may have been the first black artist in the South and the second in the country after Joshua Johnston (1765-1830), the earliest known black artist in the Unites States.

Before the camera, artists made a living by painting miniature   portraits of people, sometimes on jewelry such as lockets and broaches, other times to be framed and displayed in homes.      Photography eventually replaced the need for miniatures.