Leon Bonnat was born in France but settled in Madrid between 1846 to 1853. Due to this, his early work was shaped by tSpanish painting of the time. About 1870, he switched to portrait painting and was acknowledged for his true to life portrayal of his models. His gifts gained him a extensive fortune and enabled him to accumulate a great collection and expensive art collection which was afterward given to his home town of Bayonne. Bonnat became likewise the instructor of notable artists like Georges Braque and also Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
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Leon Joseph Florentin Bonnat was a renowned French Academic portrait artist as well as instructor of numerous popular artists. He was born in Bayonne, and trained with Madrazo in Madrid, Spain. He resided in Madrid between 1846 to 1853, where his father was owner a bookstore.He was patronized by the city of Bayonne, with Leon Cogniet in the city of Paris. His previous paintings are religious works where his study of Spanish Baroque painting is apparent. He afterward worked in Paris, where he grew recognized as a superior portrait painter. His abundant series of portraits displays the work of Velázquez as well as the Spanish realists. His themes were Adolphe Thiers, Victor Hugo, Hippolyte Taine, Louis Pasteur, J.-A.-D. Ingres and famed persons of his generation. He created approximately two hundred portraits, many of them boasting photographically precise draftsmanship and quiet color.
He was awarded the medal of honor at Paris in 1869, and here he was among the celebrated artists of his era. His hence and more recognized portrait series of famous Europeans as well as Americans started out in 1875.
Bonnat moved on to be a teacher at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1888. In May 1905 he followed Paul Dubois as director. He became an authoritative instructor. His pupils were Thomas Eakins, Aloysius O'Kelly, Gustave Caillebotte,Georges Braque, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He ran a busy studio for over thirty years.
His intense portraiture work is his most distinguishing act upon, although his topic paintings, like the Martyrdom of St Denis in the Pantheon, are as well illustrious. His superior and varied art collection is in the Bonnat Museum in Bayonne. Leon Bonnat passed away September 8, 1922, Monchy-St-Eloi.
Leon Bonnat Selected Paintings
- Adam and Eve Finding the Body of Abel, The First Mourning- Alexandre Dumas Fils 1886
- An Arab removing a thorn from his foot
- An Egyptian Peasant Woman and Her Child, 1869-70
- Arabian Sheikhs in the Mountains, 1872
- Ciociara 1859
- Esquisse pour le portrait de Mme Bischoffsheim
- Fountain By The Cathedral Of St. Peter In Rome 1868
- Girl Sitting
- Henry Lillie Pierce 1895
- In the Mountains 1870
- Interieur de la Chapelle Sistine
- Italian Girl with a Jug 1875
- Italian Woman, 1860s
- Job
- John Taylor Johnston 1880
- Leon Gambetta
- Louis Adolphe Thiers, 1877
- Madame Pasca 1874
- Mademoiselle Franchetti, 1877
- Mary Sears 1878
- Meditation 1884
- Pays Basque
- Portrait de Jeune Fille Italienne - Italian Girl
- Portrait du graveur Tourny
- Portrait of a Man
- Portrait of Jules Grevy 1880
- Portrait of Prince Vyacheslav Tenishev, 1896
- Portrait of Victor Hugo
- Self Portrait, 1858, pen, india ink
- The Dilemma
- The Fountain by St Peter's Basilica in Rome, 1868
- The Martyrdom of St. Denis
- The Raising of Lazarus, 1857
- Vue de San Giorgio Maggiore à Venise
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