José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza

José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza (1750–1802) was a portrait painter from New Spain known for being the first painter of significance to work in Spanish colonial New Orleans, Louisiana.^[1][2]

Salazar was born to Salvador de Salazar and Feliciana Ojeda y Bazquez on the Yucatán peninsula in Mérida, Mexico.^[3] 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.^[1] Salazar died on August 15, 1802.^[4]

Salazar is considered the foremost painter in Spanish Colonial Louisiana.^[4] 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^[1] and show the influence of Mexican provincial styles.^[4] The art historian Judith Bonner believes that Salazar's daughter Francisca worked with him due to certain drawing and painting inconsistencies found in his work.^[4] His use of transparent glazes and dark backgrounds has been compared to Goya.^[4]

Salazar's work is held in many museums. It is included in the Louisiana State Museum collection,^[1] the Newcomb Art Museum collection,^[5] Worcester Art Museum,^[6] and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,^[7] among other institutions.

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  Portrait of Marianne Celeste Dragon or Dracos, c. 1795
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  Portrait of Lieutenant Michel Dragon, father of Marianne Celeste Dragon, c. 1810
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  Portrait of Captain Anthony Knapp, c. 1801
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  Portrait of Matias Francisco Alpuente y Ruiz, c. 1785–1795
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  Portrait of a mother-and-child, c. 1785–1795
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  Portrait of Charles Trudeau Laveau, c. 1800
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  Portrait of Sebastián Calvo de la Puerta y O'Farrill, c. 1800

• Gontar, Cybele, ed. (2018). Salazar: Portraits of Influence in Spanish New Orleans, 1785–1802. Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the University of New Orleans Press. ISBN 978-1608011544.