Born in 1811 in Nantes, Jules Dupré (1811-1889) spent his boyhood in L'Isle-Adam on the Oise river, near Paris.
Here he had his early initiation to art, as an apprentice decorator of porcelain in his father's china works.
At the age of twelve, he was sent to Paris, to work in the porcelain factory of an uncle, Arsène Gillet.
His fellow workers included several young artists who would play a role in his later life, among them Narcisse Diaz de la Peña🎨 (1808-1876).
Though during his early years in Paris, Dupré briefly studied with a painter of landscape, Jean-Michel Diebolt (b. 1779), he started on his artistic career nearly without formal training.