Draft:Pierre Louis Alexandre

• Comment: This needs more work on it. Whatever views one has about "hype", this needs to be sourced, and only if this has a solid basis. This project is an encyclopedia, more concerned with facts and figures than conjecture or essay projection. To give a specific example, the suggestion that a subject of colour would get a hyped value was sourced to a blog site, the Colorization Collective, which actually made zero reference to the subject. So this is a synthesis ported over to an available source.
  That said, the subject almost certainly is notable, and with sources to match. However kindly see if the citation parameters can be tided up: the parameter archive-date is only used if there is a separate archived version via (say) Wayback Machine. Using Wayback is good, but if there is no archive-url then you can't use archive-date, the two parameters go together. ChrysGalley (talk) 12:20, 2 February 2026 (UTC)

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Pierre Louis Alexandre, docker and artists model in Stockholm, born in Cayenne, French Guiana, probably in the 1840s, died in Stockholm on 29 April 1905. During the 2020's, Alexandre was the subject of a hype in the art market, motifs featuring him being purchased by art institutions in Sweden and the United States. Alexandre is 'Probably the most depicted black sitter in pre-modern art' according to american professor Monica L. Miller.

Biography

According to the Catholic church of Sweden Pierre Louis Alexandre was born in Cayenne, French Guiana, on 16 June 1844. If so, he was probably the child of a slave, as slavery was not abolished in Guiana until 1848. There are no newborn children with the name of Pierre Louis appearing in the birth register of Guyana at that date, but there are three Pierre Louis born in the years 1843, 1846 and 1848.

Pierre Louis Alexandre, by Karin Bergöö Larsson 1879. Acquisition by the National Gallery of Art, Washington in 2024

He seem to have had many nicknames as: Pedro, Black Peder and Petterson but there are no elements to confirm the denomination of « Negro Peterson » presented as his nick name at the Academy of Arts and often used in stead of his real name by his biographer Mats Werner.

According to the Catholic Church of Sweden, he was a French citizen and immigrated to Sweden on 20 April 1863. Despite the common occurrence of various details in the media and in cultural institutions about his early life, there are no other data to confirm any facts about this period (childhood, reasons behind and conditions around leaving Guiana and traveling to Europe).

The first reliable information about Pierre Louis Alexandre is when he was registered as a sitter at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Stockholm in 1877 and as resident by Stockholm authorities in 1878. Between 1878 and 1905, he lodged at a dozen addresses in Stockholm, almost all of them in the parish of the poor working class district of Katarina in Södermalm. He worked close to this neighbourghood as a docker in the harbour of Stockholm. Because of ice formation wintertime, activities stoped in in the harbour. It was during these periods he made extras as a sitter, mainly at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of  Stockholm (from 1877 to 1903). He was registered member of the dockworkers' union, at that time involved in a wide spread struggle for workers rights in swedish society. He married twice and adopted the two children of his second wife. He died in Stockholm from tuberculosis on 29 April 1905.

Paintings

There are around fifty known works depicting Pierre Louis Alexandre (PLA), most of them probably student works, some of them created by artists that later would become famous such as John Bauer, Oscar Björk or Anders Zorn.

As a model at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, focus of these art works is often on his half-naked, muscular body. At several occasions he is portrayed in some form of swath, depicted as an 'Oriental' wearing a fez, a turban and/or harem pants, with a sword or long machete in his hand. On rare occasions, he wears more everyday clothing.

The following artists have works featuring PLA as their motif: Althin, Caleb, Andersson Wirde, Maja, Aronson-Liljegral, Martin, Arsenius, Georg, Asplund, Nils, Benedicks Bruse, Carolina, Berendt-Hanström, Matilda, Bergöö Larsson, Karin, Björk, Oscar, Bäckman, Axel, Forsström, Edvard A, Grohman, Erland, Hansen, Georg H, Hedberg, Ecke, Hennigs, Gösta von, Hjortzberg, Olle, Hoppe , Bruno, Hoving, Folke, Jungstedt, Axel, Kleimer, Axel, Krouthén, Johan, Larsson, Nils A, Nordensvan, Georg, Rydstedt, Iris, Stenberg, Emerik, Saltza, Carl Fredrik von, Schultzenheim, Ida von, Wigert, Mathilde, Wiman, Görel, Åkerlund, Johan, Åkerman, Werner, Österlund, John, Österman,Emil.

Art hype concerning Pierre Louis Alexandre

In 2012 Mats Werner, a swedish collector of art works depicting PLA presented his collection in Antikrundan, the swedish version of Antiques roadshow.  A painting by Karin Bergöö Larsson that Werner inherited was evaluated at approximately 100,000 Swedish kronor

In 2019, Werner sold the main part of his collection (11 works) for prices which significantly exceeded those generaly attained by these artist. Since then, several student works featuring PLA have been sold for rather high prices, probably due to the unusual and desired motif in the art world: a black model. In 2019, the National Museum in Stockholm acquired a terracotta sculpture by Verner Åkerman depicting PLA. In 2022, a portrait of PLA by Nils A Larsson from the previous group sale was sold to the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, USA, for an undisclosed amount.

In 2024 National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA, acquired Karin Bergöös portrait of Pierre Louis Alexandre for an unknown sum, probably much more than ten times the price it was valuated for ten years earlier in Swedish television.

Sales exceeding 100 000 SEK

• 2023 von Hennigs, Gösta, oil on canvas 135 492 kr
• 2024 Althin, Caleb, oil on canvas 240 000 kr , Bergöö-Larsson, Karin, oil on canvas (acquisition by National Gallery of Art, Washington), Holsteinson, Alma oil on canvas, 760 000 kr, von Saltza, Carl Fredrik, ink wash, 121 087 kr
• 2026 Dahl, Herman L, oil on canvas, 131 812 kr