His work was also well regarded in Paris where he received prizes for salon shows that he participated in the early 1800s. Lion’s notoriety increased when his work was published in L’Artiste, a weekly illustrated French magazine and commentary on artists. Most notable among Lion’s work are his portraits of Louisianians such as Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.

Lion is thought to have immigrated to New Orleans, in about 1836 where he obtained work as a portrait lithographer at the New Orleans Bee. His introduction of the daguerreotype process in New Orleans, a precursor to photography, was historic. In 1840, the Crescent City became the second location in the United States to embrace the groundbreaking technology. Lion’s daguerreian views of New Orleans’ landmarks such as views of Canal Street and the famed St. Louis Cathedral are known to historians. He is believed to have learned the process from by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, who is credited by some, with being the inventor of photography. In 1840, an exhibition of Lion’s work was mounted at the St. Charles Museum. Lion who had by then, began receiving a high degree of patronage for his work, had entered a crowded field of other artists and daguerretypists.

Lion, who briefly taught art at the Louisiana College (forerunner of the University of Louisiana), is believed to have created more than two hundred of the lithographs-some are still in publication today, while others have been lost. In 1860, Lion’s effort to publish about 200 of his portraits in a book entitled Notabilités de la Louisiane, failed for lack of funding. Amistad Research Center is fortunate to own two of his prints which were donated by renowned collector Derrick Joshua Beard (now deceased), whose collection of ephemera and African American art is housed in private collections and major institutions across the United States.