Nationality French Movement Post-Impressionism Role Artist | Known for Cityscapes, Paris Name Edouard Cortes Period Post-Impressionism | |
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Born 26 April 1882 Lagny/Marne, France Died November 26, 1969, Lagny-sur-Marne, France Education Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts | ||
Edouard cortes one of the most successful contemporary french artists
Edouard Leon Cortes (1882–1969) was a French post-impressionist artist of French and Spanish ancestry. He is known as "Le Poete Parisien de la Peinture" or "the Parisian Poet of Painting" because of his diverse Paris cityscapes in a variety of weather and night settings.
Contents
- Edouard cortes one of the most successful contemporary french artists
- Edouard Cortes A collection of 220 paintings HD
- Personal life
- Painting history
- Lost and stolen paintings
- References
Edouard Cortes: A collection of 220 paintings (HD)
Personal life
Cortes was born on August 8, 1882, in Lagny-sur-Marne, about twenty miles east of Paris. His father, Antonio Cortes, had been a painter for the Spanish Royal Court.
In 1914 Cortes married Fernande Joyeuse, with whom he had a daughter in 1916.
Although Cortes was a pacifist, when war came close to his native village he was compelled to enlist in a French Infantry Regiment at the age of 32. As a contact agent Cortes was wounded by a bayonet, evacuated to a military hospital, and awarded the Croix de Guerre. After recovery he was the reassigned to utilize his artistic talent to sketch enemy positions. Later in life his convictions led him to refuse the Legion d'Honneur from the French Government. In 1919 he was demobilized.
His wife had died in 1918 and he soon married his sister-in-law Lucienne Joyeuse.
Cortes lived a simple life amid a close circle of friends. He died on November 28, 1969, in Lagny, and has a street named in his honor.
Painting history
At the age of 17, Edouard began his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His first exhibition in 1901 brought him immediate recognition. Cortes stressed his independence. Once, in responding to a journalist who asked if he was a student of Luigi Loir, he replied in pun: "Non, eleve de lui tout seul." ("No, a student of myself only.")
His works were first exhibited in North America in 1945 and he subsequently achieved even greater success. In his last year of life he was awarded the prestigious Prix Antoine-Quinson from the Salon de Vincennes.
Lost and stolen paintings
On November 30, 2000, four paintings by Cortes were recovered in Kalispell, Montana, following an eight-month investigation conducted by the FBI's San Francisco Division. The recovered paintings were stolen in 1988 during a burglary at the Simic Gallery in Carmel, California.
In 2008, a lost Cortes painting of a Paris street scene was discovered amongst donated items at a Goodwill Industries thrift store in Easton, Maryland. After an alert store manager noticed that it was a signed original, the painting was subsequently auctioned for $40,600 (US) at Sotheby's.