Etienne Alexandre Hyppolite Coté (1816-1874), was a Breton painter whose life unfolded not in the studios of Paris but in the bustling naval city of Brest. Training under the eminent Paul Delaroche, he carried the discipline and academic restraint of that school into a provincial career marked by diligence rather than metropolitan acclaim. His portraits, often characterised by calm poise and meticulous attention to detail, reflect a life lived among artisans, dockworkers, sailors, and teachers - an existence shaped as much by the rhythms of the port as by the lessons of the atelier.

Across several censuses, we follow a man who balanced artistic practice with the responsibilities of a growing family, enduring the fragile reality of 19th-century urban life. By the 1870s, after decades of steady work as an ‘artiste peintre’, he became a property owner living on Rue de Siam, the principal artery of Brest. His story is one of resilience, modest prosperity, and heartfelt humanity, all of which resonate in the sensitivity of his surviving works.

Known For

Quietly accomplished 19th-century French portraiture, still lifes and landscapes. A restrained, dignified style suited to the rising provincial bourgeoisie.

Student Of

Paul Delaroche (1797-1856).

Lived In

Brest, Finistère, Brittany (entire life)
Primarily the 1er Canton (near Rue de la Rampe) in the 1850s-60s
Later Rue de Siam, the city’s principal thoroughfare (1872)

Timeline

1816

Born (as Etienne Alexandre Hyppolite Coté) in Brest, Finistère, to Jean Pascal Coté, a naval officer, and Marie Yvonne Guillemette Yven.

1830

Death of his father, Jean Pascal Coté, in Brest. Hippolyte is 13, raised in a maritime household shaped by discipline and duty.

1846

Began exhibiting at the Salon de Paris.

c. 1850

Married Françoise Herveline Allègre. Her name appears variously as Herveline or Erveline in different census records.

1850-1856

Birth of several children, visible across successive censuses:

1856

Lived at Rue de la Rampe, 1er Canton, Brest, with his wife and children. Occupation recorded as ‘Artiste peintre, chef de ménage’.

1872

Lived at Rue de Siam, together with his wife, grandmother and children, the principal boulevard of Brest. Occupation recorded as ‘Propriétaire’ (property owner), suggesting semi-retirement and financial well-being.

1874

Died in Brest.