He entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1848, where he was a student of Léon Cogniet and Adolphe Yvon. He appeared at the Paris Salon from 1848 to 1882, winning medals in 1865 and 1867. François Feyen-Perrin was for many years one of the favorite painters of the general public, his paintings were a sensation at the Salon. He was, with his brother Jacques Eugène Feyen, the official painter of the fishermen of Cancale.

His constant preoccupation with embellishing his subjects reveals what is often artificial about his art, especially in a register that would like to be realistic when his female characters are obviously too elegant to have ever been involved in the harsh work of the sea.

We notice then that his work was not limited to the folklore of Cancale and its inhabitants, but that he was, as for the diversity of the themes, a complete painter; some paintings refer to history: Discovery of the body of Charles the Bold after the battle of Nancy, to religious history: The Descent from the Cross, to mythology: Caron 's Boat, allegory: L'Élégie, to miscellaneous facts: Episode of the Wreck of theEvening Star, to literary history: Prodigality of theAretin, to the celebration of female beauty: Naked Woman Lying on a Beach.

MUSEUMS: AIX-EN-PROVENCE (Mus. Granet): La Parisienne à Can¬cale - ANGERS : Episode of the sinking of theEvening Star - ARRAS : Cancalaises au bord de la mer - EPINAL (Mus. dép. des Vosges): The Elegy - MOULINS : L'enfance du mousse - NANCY (Mus. des Beaux- Arts): Caron's boat - The Descent from the Cross - Aretino - Discovery of the body of Charles the Bold after the battle of Nancy - PARIS (Mus. d'Orsay): Return from Fishing, Cancale - REIMS (Mus. des Beaux-Arts): Return of the oyster fisherwomen - TOULON: The song - TROYES : Sketch.