Late 19th Century Male Academy Drawing

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Leon Joseph Forentin Bonnat was born in Bayonne in 1833 and died in Monchy-st-Eloi in 1922

He discovered painting and … Read more Leon Joseph Forentin Bonnat was born in Bayonne in 1833 and died in Monchy-st-Eloi in 1922

He discovered painting and received his first actistic lessons in Spain, where his family settled between 1846 and 1853. He continued his trainign in Bayonne iun 1853, then especially in Paris from 1854where he enrolled at the Ecoles de Beaux-Arts in Leon Cogniet's studio, thanks to the financial assistance granted to him by the city of Bayonne.

Candidate for the Prix de Rome competition, where he only obtained, after two amilures in 1854 and 1855, as secon grand prise in 1857 , he left, thanks once again to the support of the City of Bayonne , for Rome, whre is stayed from 1858 to 1861, enjoying a status close toeh the laureates of the Prix de Rome. There he frequened Degas, Henner, Gustave Moreau, Delaunay, Jules Lefebvre, Carolus Duran, etc and produce his first religious works and his first Italian genre scenes.

He exhibited at eh Salon in 1857, and was noticed for the first time by critics of the Salon of 1859. Success was rapid: The Good Samaritain received and honorable mention from the Salon jure in 1859 and was purchased by the State, The painting Mariuccia, p;resented at the Salon of 1861 was bought by Princess Mathilde. He received his first public order in 1863: a decorative panel of hte life of Saint Vincent de Paul for the Saint-Nicolas-des-champs church in Paris. In 1869, Leon traveled to the Middle East, where he accompanied Jean-Leon Gerome..
After his return he painted orientalist genre schenes, while continuing to produce important religious works. In 1869 he received theMedal Of Honor of the Salon for L'Assumption. His painting, Christ on the Cross, which reponded ti a state cimmission for the decoration fote Cour d'Assises of the Palais de Justice in Paris was preseted at the Salone of 1874. This major work established Bonnat's reputatin as a realist painter or even more a naturalist.

Success and fortune, were brought to him by portrait painting: he presented at the Salon the portraits of Mme Pasca in 1875 =, or Thiers in 1876 and Victor Hugo in 1879, the first large portraits in a long series. He was consecrated as one of the great portrait painters of his time, the greatest according to some critics. He abandoned religious painting and devoted himself exclusively to portraiture. He painted the great figures of the Republic, the aristocrates and the big bourgeois, French and American, The celebrities, men and women, artist, friends and relatives were portrayed by Bonnat between 1880 and his dealth. The number of portaits made is estimated at around 500. He was described at the "official painter of the Third Republic".

see: leon /bonnat
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