After losing his father at the age of 14, Zo first became an apprentice house painter while taking drawing lessons at the Bayonne Académie de dessin, receiving many prizes for his work. He then spent a few years working in a theatre decoration studio in
Bordeaux before going to Paris in 1846 where he joined
Thomas Couture, working in his studio for two years and receiving instruction in
academic painting. Unable to make a living in the capital, Zo had to return to Bordeaux but was back in Paris in 1852 when he exhibited a painting at the
Salon de l'Académie de Peinture titled ''Marchands d'esclaves''. As a result of its success, he was able to undertake a lengthy journey to Spain where he completed sketches as a basis for his future work. He was to return to Spain on several occasions, notably in 1856 (Madrid) and in 1860 (Andalucia). For a number of years Zo painted
historical subjects and Spanish
genre scenes. His
Gitanos du Monte Sagrado à Grenade and
Famille de bohémiens en voyage fared quite well at the Salon in 1861. His
Marchand de fruits à Séville, picked out by a critic in 1864, was purchased soon after the king of Portugal. In 1868, the ''Tribunal des Rois Mores à l'Alhambra de Grenade'', purchased by the French State, earned him a gold medal at the Salon. In the late 1860s, Zo turned from Spanish scenes to
orientalism, exhibiting
Rêve du croyant (The Believer's Dream) at the 1870 Salon. It showed one of
Muhammad's disciples discovering the splendors of paradise while smoking a
hookah, revealing a fanciful approach to
Islam and the widely held western view of oriental piety. Upset by the
Siege of Paris, in 1871 he returned to Bayonne where he opened a studio while heading the city's Ecole de dessin. He was also appointed custodian of the Musée de Peintures et des Décors de Théâtre. He no longer exhibited in Paris, concentrating on local exhibitions. His son,
Henri-Achille Zo, also became a well known painter and illustrator. ==References==