Edouard Léon Cortès
1882-1969 | French

Boulevard de la Madeleine

Signed “Edouard Cortès” (lower right)
Oil on canvas

Luminous and rich with detail, this oil on canvas hails from the studio of the great French painter Edouard Léon Cortès. The composition captures a bustling 19th-century Parisian street scene on the Boulevard de la Madeleine, filled with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages illuminated by the soft yellow light of the gas street lanterns. Enchantingly nostalgic, this work perfectly represents Cortès’ mastery over perspective, color and atmosphere as well as his lifelong painterly romance with Belle Époque Paris.

Raised in a prolific artistic environment, Cortès was an avid student of both his father, French painter Antonio Cortès, and his older brother, Andre. He also benefited from the influence of Maximilien Luce, Camille Pissarro and Lucien Pissarro, among other Impressionist artists, who were close friends of the family and flocked to Lagny-sur-Marne for its picturesque landscapes. At seventeen, he continued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and soon after earned fame when he contributed a dramatic Parisian street scene at dusk to the Société des Artistes Français.

From that point onwards, Cortès dedicated his extensive oeuvre to capturing the magic of Paris on canvas. Though he painted the same streets time and time again, each work is unique in its narrative and perspective, each mindful of the changes brought by both the seasons and progress, yet each enchantingly nostalgic. Throughout his life, his depictions of a captivating Paris were in high demand, and they remain a favorite of collectors and art aficionados today.