Léon Mage (1832-1894) Breton Peasant Resting In The Sun

Henri-Léon MAGE
(Nesle, 1832 – Brest, 1894)
Breton peasant resting in the sun
Pastel
H. 29 cm; W. 40 cm
Signed at the bottom towards the center

Born in Picardy, Mage was first a student of Joseph Fusillier at the drawing school in Amiens, where he became friends with Jules Lefebvre, Fusillier allowing them in the early 1850s to enroll at the Beaux-Arts in Paris in the studio of Léon Cogniet. We do not know when he discovered Brittany, but it became his adopted region, and he would be a professor at the drawing school in Brest. The city museum held two paintings, which were destroyed during the Second World War. Mage exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1872, 1874, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1887 and 1893, mainly with watercolours of Breton subjects, and in particular market scenes. In the provinces, he participated, among others, in the exhibitions of Rouen (1882), Amiens (1883 where he received a silver medal, and probably 1884), Brest (1884 and 1891), Nantes, Rennes (1875, 1887 where he received a medal). Physical infirmities forced him to almost kneel to work. Mage was also close to Théodule Ribot (1823-1891), who presented his portrait at the Salon of 1890.

Our drawing, whose spirit and style perhaps owe to Ribot's realism and intimacy, is further proof that obscure artists can produce marvelous works.