Leon Bellemont
Anatomy of Man
Graphite on laid paper, signed verso and paper watermarks and atelier stamp
Image size: 23 ¾ x 16 ¾ inches (60.25 x 43.5 cm)
Gilt Whistler frame
Leon Bellemont
Born on August 20, 1866, in the family home on rue du Grand-Cloître, Léon Bellemont studied from 1875 to 1883 at the Diderot college, where he was an excellent student. At the same time, he joined the municipal drawing school, where his exceptional predispositions were very quickly noted.
In 1884, at the age of 18, Léon Bellemont left Langres to join Paris and its National School of Decorative Arts, then the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts. There, he followed the teaching of Léon Bonnat, a renowned portraitist, and obtained his first rewards and several prizes. It was in 1892, however, that his artistic career took off, with his first participation in the Salon des artistes français, where he exhibited until 1956.
A landscape and impressionist painter, particularly impressing marine worlds, Léon Bellemont stayed more and more regularly in Brittany at the beginning of the 20th century, where he painted numerous paintings. His notoriety grew, as did the profits from his sales, and the State itself ended up placing a few orders with him. His work “The Breton Faith” was, for example, acquired by the museum in Buenos Aires (Argentina).
Subsequently, always in search of inspiration, Léon Bellemont travelled extensively. He was in Bruges from 1907 to 1909, then traveled across France for several years participating in exhibitions. During the First World War, he settled in Algiers where he remained for several years. He then returned to Paris, worked extensively there and achieved great fame. A socialite, he frequented salons and regularly received his friends Jules Adler, Gabriel Fauré and his compatriot from Haut-Marne Camille Flammarion. During all his wanderings, one constant remained: he regularly returned for short stays, over the decades, in his good hometown of Langres.
In 1956, on the death of his wife Charlotte-Marie-Lucie Pizzetta (married in 1904), he returned to the department and settled in Arc-en-Barrois where he died on January 18, 1961. His niece, Simone Fèvre, was also a recognised Haut-Marne artist. Who also donated a self-portrait of his uncle to the Guy-Baillet museum. Which also preserves a second painting by Léon Bellemont: The Catechism.
