Edouard Léon Cortès
1882-1969 | French

Le terminus Madeleine-Bastille à Paris

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

Celebrated as the "Parisian Poet of Painting," Edouard Léon Cortès was a master at capturing the timeless energy and beauty of the City of Lights. Le terminus Madeleine-Bastille à Paris is no exception. Cortès depicts the historic thoroughfare on an autumn evening, as horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians alike traverse the streets as dusk falls.

Cortès' canvases capture the very essence of the Belle Époque, a period in Paris when fashion, art and culture flourished with boundless energy. With bold splashes of color, Cortès crafts a nostalgic narrative, documenting the seasons' progression at one of the city's best-known thoroughfares. The dimly lit street is aglow with the golden light of lanterns and storefronts, each contributing to the romance of the Parisian setting.

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 Socíeté des Artistes Française.

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.

20th century