According to his great- granddaughter, the artist Antoine Bouvard, was in fact Eloi Noel Isidore Béraud, although he painted under the pseudonym ‘Bouvard’ or ‘Marc Aldine’.

Born in the city of St. Étienne, France, in 1870. Bouvard studied at the Academy of Fine Art at St. Étienne and established himself as an artist, painting canvases in the Barbizon style. After his studies he worked as a graphic designer, producing designs for Galerie Lafayette and for Markovich cigarettes. In 1924 he established a studio at Val d’Oise. During 1930 he visited Venice for the first time and instantly fell in love with its unique scenery. During this visit he met a fellow artist, Rubens Santoro and thus studied with him for a period of some six months.

He returned to the city many times during the following years and specialized in painting Venetian views. For the English market he painted under the pseudonym Antoine Bouvard and for the French market Marc Aldine. His two principal galleries were the Whitgift Gallery in Croyden and the Gallery Morisco in Nice, although he also exhibited at the Galerie Paul Claux in Paris.

The artist’s son, George Nöel Béraud 1912 – 1972, was also an artist and painted under the name of George Nöel Bouvard. He was born in Paris and died in Écouen and painted in a style similar to that of his father.