Edouard Léon Cortès
1882-1969 | French

Paris sous la neige

Signed “E. Cortès” (lower right)
Oil on canvas

A charming night scene of a snowy Parisian avenue, this energetic oil on canvas by Edouard Léon Cortès captures the beauty and vitality of winter in the City of Lights. Cortès depicts a busy thoroughfare from a unique perspective, emphasizing the dynamic movement of the vehicles and pedestrians and also the graceful geometric lines of the architecture and street. Darkened by the nightfall, Cortes illuminates his scene with the warm light of the trolley car and the incandescence of the gas lamps.

Cortès' canvases capture the essence of the Parisian Belle Époque, showcasing the flourishing fashion, art and culture of the era. This lively composition documents the beauty of the changing seasons and the boundless energy and romance of Paris.

Born just outside of Paris, Cortès enjoyed a rich artistic heritage. His father, Antonio Cortès, was an artist in the circle of the Barbizon school, having moved to France after serving as a painter at the Spanish Royal Court. Cortès' elder brother and sister were also artists and followed the plein air tenets of the Barbizon style alongside their father. Other famed artists flocked to the picturesque town of Langly where Cortès was born, including Maximilian Luce, Camille Pissaro and Lucien Pissarro, among other celebrities of the Impressionist period. Personal friends of the family, these painters would have a profound influence over the young Cortès, who flourished in this richly creative environment.

He exhibited his first work in 1899 at the Société des Artistes Francaise in Paris where he was met with excellent reviews. Capturing the magic of Paris during the Belle Époque, his canvases soon garnered worldwide attention, particularly in Canada and America. Though he painted the same streets time and time again, each work is unique in its narrative, perspective and atmosphere. Just as his Parisian scenes brought him success during his lifetime, they continue to captivate art lovers today.