Louis Legrand (1863-1951) / Pastel Date 1915 / Portrait Of Maud Pellet-exsteens

Very beautiful pastel by the belle époque artist Louis Legrand (1863-1951)
Monogramed, dated 1915 and titled Maud Pellet at the bottom left.
Maud Pellet was the sister of the publisher and art collector Gustave Pellet, and married to the collector Maurice Exsteens.

63.5 x 43 at sight
79 x 59 with frame

This work comes from a prestigious Parisian gallery which offered works by Louis Legrand since the very beginning of the 20th century.

A bank employee, Louis Legrand took evening classes at the Dijon School of Fine Arts and won the Devosge Prize in 1883. In 1884, he moved to Paris and learned about engraving techniques with Félicien Rops, his favorite technique being that of aquatint. He received his first order in a series: The first illustrated ones. From 1887, he collaborated with the newspaper Le Courrier français. The drawings he published there most often had the theme of death and decay. Prosecuted for obscenity, he served a short prison sentence and then abandoned his career as a satirical illustrator. In 1891, he participated in Gil Blas to illustrate the special issue devoted to the Moulin Rouge. He was interested in the world of dance, notably illustrating a Fin de Siècle Dance Course (Paris, E. Dentu, 1892) whose plates were printed in the workshop of Auguste Delâtre. He assiduously frequents the rehearsal rooms and backstage of the dancing school opened by Nini-Patte-en-l'air on rue Frochot. In 1900, he received a bronze medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. In 1906, he was decorated with the Order of the Legion of Honor. Before Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, he reproduced the Parisian nightlife of the Belle Époque. Brittany was also one of his sources of inspiration. The Breton departmental museum in Quimper preserves several of his Breton-inspired engravings. The publisher and art collector Gustave Pellet published 300 engravings for him and bought all of his pastels. He also engraved erotic subjects for him Exhibitions 1896: Paris, Samuel Bing gallery. 1900: Paris, Universal Exhibition of 1900, where he received a silver medal. 1902: Salon of French artists. 1904: Paris, Georges Petit gallery. 1911: Paris, Paul Durand-Ruel gallery, retrospective of his work.