Upon the recommendation of Léon Berthoud (1822–1892), a local landscape painter, he went to Paris, where he became one of the first Swiss artists to work in the studios of Charles Gleyre. In 1846, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-arts. His first exhibition at the Salon came in 1848, just before the Revolution. Shortly after, he returned home and settled in the Berner Oberland. There, he spent some summers with the brothers Edouard and Karl Girardet as well as Benjamin Vautier. He made regular trips to Paris to visit with his friends there. In 1860, he spent time painting with Gustave-Henri Colin in the Pyrenees.