A French Orientalist painter and traveller. During a journey around the world he stayed in China in 1838–1839, basing himself for several months mainly in Macau, where he associated with the English painter George Chinnery and produced many sketches and paintings of the Praia Grande, the A-Ma Temple and other scenes of Macau and southern China, later collected in albums such as Sketches of China and the Chinese.

A French painter circling the globe who paused for months in Macau — and painted the small city into the Western eye.

Auguste Borget was a French Orientalist painter and traveller, known for his work on Macau and southern China.

Profile

  • Chinese Name: 奧古斯特·博爾傑 (transliteration)
  • Western Name: Auguste Borget
  • Born: 1808 (Issoudun, France)
  • Died: 1877
  • Domains: Culture · Visual art
  • Subject type: Historical figure · Painter · Traveller

Background

Borget was born in 1808 in Issoudun, central France. From 1836 he set out on a journey of several years around the world, recording its landscapes and peoples in his sketches; that journey brought him to Macau, at the mouth of the Pearl River.

Career

I. Several months in Macau

In 1838–1839 Borget stayed in China, basing himself for several months mainly in Macau. He associated with the English painter George Chinnery, long resident there, and the two drew the Praia Grande, the A-Ma Temple and the banks of the Pearl River. Macau was the longest stay and the most depicted stop of his entire China journey.

II. Albums and influence

Back in Europe, Borget collected and published his China sketches, including Sketches of China and the Chinese (1842) and La Chine et les Chinois. These works became an important nineteenth-century Western image of southern China and Macau.

Key Achievements

  • Based mainly in Macau in 1838–39, depicting the Praia Grande and A-Ma Temple
  • Associated with the Macau-based English painter George Chinnery
  • Published Sketches of China and the Chinese and La Chine et les Chinois
  • Left an important visual record of nineteenth-century Macau and southern China

Information compiled from publicly available sources (Wikipedia and scholarship on nineteenth-century China-trade painting). His Chinese name is a transliteration. If anything is inaccurate or needs updating, please contact us — we aim to respond within 48 hours.