Artist Biography

Ernest NARJOT
1826 - 1898

Ernest Narjot was born in St Malo, France on December 25, 1826. Christened Ernest Etienne Narjot de Francheville, he was raised in an artistic atmosphere and taught to paint by both parents who were artists. He studied art in Paris before joining the Gold Rush to California in 1849. After three unsuccessful years in the Mother Lode area, he joined a mining expedition to Sonora, Mexico. For 13 years he mined and painted scenes along the border of Mexico and Arizona. Narjot returned to San Francisco in 1865 with his Mexican wife and set up a studio at 610 Clay Street. By the 1880s he was considered one of California's foremost painters. His paintings are meticulously detailed and rendered in the traditional style of the mid-19th century French School. His work includes mining scenes, landscapes, portraits, and several murals in churches and public buildings of northern California. Narjot was commissioned to paint the ceiling of Leland Stanford's tomb at Stanford University and, while working there, paint splashed in his eyes. The final months of his life were spent in blindness, deteriorating health, and poverty. Narjot died in San Francisco on August 24, 1898. His works are rare since many of his paintings were destroyed in the earthquake and fire of 1906. Exhibited: San Francisco Art Ass'n, 1872-92; Mechanics' Institute, 1871, 1876, 1893; California State Fair, 1888 (gold medal), 1889 (silver medal); World's Columbian Expo (Chicago), 1893. Works held: California Historical Society; Oakland Museum; Autry Museum (Los Angeles); California State Library; Santa Barbara Museum; Bancroft Library (University of California at Berkeley); Silverado Museum (St Helena, CA); De Young Museum; Athletic Club (Los Angeles); Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

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