José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza

José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza (1750 – August 15, 1802) was a portrait painter from New Spain known for being the first painter of significance to work in Spanish colonial New Orleans, Louisiana.

Biography Salazar was born to Salvador de Salazar and Feliciana Ojeda y Bazquez on the Yucatán peninsula in Mérida, Mexico. He attended the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City. In 1782, he moved to New Orleans with his wife, Maria Antonia Magaña (d. 1793) and their two children, a son, José, and daughter, Francisca de Salazar y Magaña, both of whom became artists. Shortly after moving. they had another son, José Casiano. In 1788, their home was destroyed in a fire, and the family moved into a church building. In 1791, the family was living on St. Philip Street, near St. Louis Cathedral, where their youngest son, Ramon Rafael de la Crus, was born. Salazar died on August 15, 1802. He painted the portraits of many prominent citizens of colonial Louisiana, including members of the church, government and the military. Some of his well-known sitters include Marianne Celeste Dragon, Don Carlos Trudeau Laveau, Joseph Montegut, Ignacio Balderas, Don Almonaster y Rojas, and Bishop Luis Ignatius Cardenas y Peñalver, among others. His paintings are in the late Baroque style that was favored in Spanish colonies Worcester Art Museum, and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, among other institutions.

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