Besnard, a distinguished painter and etcher, was the son of a painter, a pupil of Ingres, who died very young. His mother was a talented miniaturist. It is therefore not surprising that Besnard himself was a precocious artist. He began his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts under Cabanel at the age of 17, and had his first painting accepted by the Paris Salon when he was only 19. In 1874 he was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome for his painting The Death of Timophanes, and spent the next two years at the Villa Medici, the French Academy in Rome. 

Upon his return from Italy, he married the sculptor Charlotte Dubray. He then spent two years in London, studying carefully and being heavily influenced by the great British portraitists, especially Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Lawrence. It was an important period in the young artist’s life and he emerged from it with a personal and highly original style forged from diverse influences. Until 1880, his painting was rooted firmly in the academic tradition, but then, having seen the work of the Impressionists, he broke with the academic and devoted himself to the study of light and color as conceived by the Impressionist painters.  

His Portrait de Mme. Roger Jourdain, which he exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1886, established his reputation. By the time he was 30, he was well into a career that was crowned with many honors. He was named Director of the Villa Medici in Rome in 1914, and the Director of the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1922. He was elected to the Académie des Beaux Arts, and to the Académie Française, and was awarded the Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur. His works are found in many major private and public collections, including that of the Louvre. In 1924 an extensive exhibition of his works traveled to several different cities of the United States.  

 

Paul Albert Besnard  1849-1934
Portrait of a Woman
watercolor and gouache
Signed and dated in pen & ink, center right. Dedication in pencil, lower right: “á mon ami Delbet/ A. Besnard”
Sheet size: 13 5/8 X 1 1/4 inches
Frame size: 22 1/2 X 19 inches
In a handcrafted frame by Les Cadres Gault, Paris
FC00091 Price on Request

 
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