Publications

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Edouard Leon Cortes (1882-1969)

 Edouard Leon Cortes developed his natural talents under the tutelage of his father, the Spanish court painter Antonio Cortes. Born just east of Paris in Lagny sur Marne, young Edouard left school at the age of thirteen to concentrate on his painting and by 1899 he exhibited his first work at the Salon to favorable reviews. His initial efforts aligned with the Barbizon manner favored by his father, yet Cortes gradually added to his oeuvre the views of Paris’ bustling avenues for which he is best remembered. Driven in part by a desire to make a name for himself, Cortes had the added responsibility of being his mother’s sole provider upon his father’s death in 1908, and as proof of his early success, he purchased a home for he and his mother at 22 rue Macheret in Lagny. Aside from occasional stays in Paris, Brittany, and the Normandy coast, the residence would serve as his main studio for the rest of his prolific career.

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Cortes continued to show at the Salon throughout his career and also took part in exhibits closer to home through the Union Artistique et Littéraraire du Canton de Lagny and other regional venues. The artist’s paintings of Paris's celebrated buildings and streets, captured in all hours and weather and filled with residents going to and fro, reveal a prosperous, thriving metropolis. These images were especially popular during the years of recovery following both World Wars, as European collectors sought to recall the beloved City of Light in happier times, untouched by conflict. Cortes’ work also resonated on an international level: in 1928 he was commissioned by Canada’s T. Eaton Company Limited to create thirty paintings for display at their Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal stores, while a propitious introduction to New York gallerist Herbert Arnot in the mid-1940s would further expand the Frenchman’s colorful urban scenes in the American market.