Antoine Bouvard, who painted both under his own name and the pseudonym “Marc Aldine”, was born at St. Jean-de-Bournay in L'Isere in 1870. He trained as an architect and studied art and architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He became the Director of Architectural Services for the Seine, and was responsible for the construction of the Bourse du Travail and the Boulevard Morland in Paris. His paintings show the influence of Felix Ziem (1821-1911), whose images of Venice also display a delicate and fluid use of color. Bouvard exhibited throughout France and Italy as well as in many European galleries during his own lifetime. His popularity has continued to the present day, placing him amongst the most recognized and respected painters of Venetian subjects.