The name of Luigini has a firm grasp on French artistic life. Ferdinand's father, Alexandre Luigini (1850-1906), was a leading composer of ballets and operas. His sister was a concert harpist and his nephew, Jean Tardieu (1903-1995) became a major poet.

Ferdinand-Jean Luigini studied art in Paris under Emile Verhaeren. He began exhibiting his landscapes and architectural renderings in Paris in 1892 with the Salon des Artistes Francais*. Within several years his art was regularly shown in London, Brussels, Amsterdam and New York.

Ferdinand-Jean Luigini was equally famous for both his large colour aquatints* and for his watercolours. One contemporary scholar wrote, "Ferdinand Luigini, a brilliant watercolour artist, succeeds in...