Prosper Louis Senat
1852-1925
American
(Pennsylvania, California, Maine)
Senat was a significant American painter of the latter part of the 19th and first quarter of the 20th centuries. He was born on March 13, 1852 in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, the son of Louis Duval and Cecelia Wright Senat of Philadelphia. Records from the Germantown Historical Society indicate that the family was of affluent means; Senat’s maternal grandfather was an importer of china and later founded a shipping firm.
Though specific information regarding Senat’s earliest formal training in art remains sketchy, he is believed to have taken classes at the National Academy of Design in New York and at the Brooklyn Art Association. Much clearer is his known matriculation at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and the South Kensington School in London.
Much of his time was spent traveling to paint landscapes in Southern Italy, Egypt, Mexico, Bermuda and Jamaica. His frequent travels spurred him to participate in International exhibitions. Among them were the Brussels Exposition of 1880, the Naples National Exposition of 1889 and the Vienna National Exhibition of 1893.
Senat held memberships in the Art Club of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Society of Artists, the Artists Fund Society of New York and the Salmagundi Club of New York.