Léon Bonnat Peintre, 1833-1922 : Du Pays Basque À Victor Hugo

Exhibition at the Musée Bonnat-Helleu and the Musée Basque, Bayonne, 8 July - 31 December 2022

A native of Bayonne, Léon Bonnat (1833-1922) is considered to be one of the most important French painters of the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Famous during his lifetime, he later suffered the unjust disfavour of traditional artists, in contrast to the more modern of his contemporaries, from Impressionism to Cubism. His complex style, nourished by the old masters and faithful to a singular naturalism, makes him one of the most original masters of French art of the Third Republic.

This catalogue of the monographic exhibition organised on the occasion of the centenary of Bonnat's death brings together major works from public and private collections, including the Musée Bonnat-Helleu, the Musée d'Orsay, the Château de Versailles and the museums of the City of Paris. The book allows us to rediscover the richness and diversity of the painter's artistic production and the posterity of his teaching through a selection of works by his pupils.