Boulard started painting at the age of 15 years old. In the early 1840s, he frequented Cogniet's studio in Paris. He took up residence in
Antwerp around 1843, and exposure to its coastal life reshaped his subject matter to include
seascapes and fishermen. His artistic curiosity drove him to study broad horizons, shifting skies, and coastal landscapes. The Parisian landscape painter associated with the artistic circle of the
Île Saint-Louis, where he lived and maintained a studio at 13 quai d’Anjou. Boulard, a neighbor of
Honoré Daumier on the Île Saint-Louis, belonged to a group with Daumier,
Charles-François Daubigny,
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot,
Jean-François Millet,
Théodore Rousseau,
Adolphe Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume, and
Antoine-Louis Barye. By 1855, his paintings increasingly portrayed rustic scenes drawn from peasant life in
Val-d'Oise. He visited
Antwerp in 1858, which allowed him to meet
Eugène Delacroix and reestablish contact with Honoré Daumier. A
still life of apples that he painted entered Lucas's collection in 1869 for 100 francs. Boulard's son, who shared his first name,
Auguste, was trained by the elder Boulard. He also counted
Louis Marie Lemaire among his pupils. By 1880,
Emilio Sánchez Perrier and
Antonio de La Gandara were regular visitors at his studio on the Île Saint-Louis. He achieved wider recognition with the inaugural
Salon du Champ-de-Mars in 1890 and continued to exhibit there each year. Boulard's ''The Fisherman's Child'', an
oil painting, was purchased by the State in 1887 for the Luxembourg Museum.
Galerie Georges Petit in Paris presented a selection of his works during an 1896 exhibition. The exhibition played a key role in confirming his status as a recognized artist of his time. ==Personal life==