Jim Blanchard is a contemporary topographical artist known for his architectural archival watercolors of historic Louisiana buildings. A native son of Lafourche Parish, he was raised amid the aging plantations and vernacular 19 th century architecture of the region. Born in Thibodaux in 1955, Blanchard briefly studied at Nicholls State University before joining the family’s oil brokerage business. It was there that Blanchard learned to research archives and public records, and honed his drafting skills through making maps. Moving to New Orleans in the early 1980s, Blanchard – like many artists before – fell in love withthe city and its cultural and architectural history.In New Orleans, Blanchard turned his full attention to creating artwork based on the region’sarchitectural history. Using ink, watercolor and gouache as his primary medium, he depicted the grand buildings of the past with the precision of an architect, the integrity of an historian and the hand of a master watercolorist.

Eschewing the romanticism of decay so often embraced by contemporary artist, Blanchard depicts these buildings in their original glory, often adding figures in period dress for both scale and context. Calling them “Architectural Archival Watercolors” for their precise scale and historical accuracy, Blanchard’s works exist as both architectural renderings and topographical history paintings. In the tradition of thegreat 19 th century architect and painter, Marie Adrien Persac, the paintings of Jim Blanchard combine history, aesthetic and skill to create a visual document that is both accurate and idealized. Through these works, grand buildings rise from the ashes of the past, crumbling facades are restored and faded images glow with the color of life.

Blanchard moved his attentions out to the River Parishes, working on the restoration and history of Houmas House Plantation, and the restorations of both Ashland and Bocage Plantations. Blanchard designed and oversaw the construction of the Great River Road Museum at Houmas, and curated and created the exhibits for history of River Road in the Museum. His works appear in The BicentennialHistory of Art in Louisiana (The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities), and numerous otherpublications. Private and public collections, museums, and universities house Jim’s works of archival drawings, including The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, The Historic NewOrleans Collection, Louisiana State University, Tulane University, and noted others.