Robert Besnard, Engraving By His Father Albert Besnard, 1891

Albert Besnard, painter, decorator and engraver; His parents were Louis Adolphe Besnard, a history painter and student of Ingres, and Louise Pauline Vaillant, a renowned miniaturist and student of Lizinska de Mirbel. Albert Besnard studied with Jean-François Brémond and was admitted on March 20, 1866 to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in the studios of Alexandre Cabanel and Sébastien Cornu. In 1874, he won the Grand Prix de Rome with his composition La Mort de Timophane, tyran de Corinthe... Robert Besnard is the artist's eldest son, born in 1881. Despite the inscription at the top left: Robert 7ans1/2, 1891 the child was 9 1/2 years old when the engraving was executed, his father having noticed the error he tried to change the 7 to 9. No. 98 at Delteil, 84 at Coppier, only 1 state is known. The work is on fine vellum paper. Handwritten signature at the bottom left. The margins have suffered a little: foxing on the right margin and a loss in the bottom right corner, left margin frayed but the image is in perfect condition. The inscription on the lower margin is late.