Léon Perrault, Meditation
Léon-Jean-Basile Perrault (French, 1832-1908)
Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1893. Exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1893 as No. 1394
Meditation shows Perrault at his most characteristic. A young woman sits on a mossy rock beside still water, loosely draped in white. Her hands are clasped in her lap, and she looks out wiwth a quiet, inward expression. The soft rose and green of the landscape and the carefully rendered fabric reflect the Bouguereau school at its best. The irises at her feet add a note of color to an otherwise hushed scene.
Léon-Jean-Basile Perrault
Perrault was among the most consistently successful painters of the French academic tradition. He was born in Poitiers and trained in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts under François-Édouard Picot and William-Adolphe Bouguereau. He exhibited at the Paris Salon for more than four decades, won medals in 1864, 1876, and 1878, and was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1887. His polished finish and idealized figures made him a favorite of American collectors, and his work hung in many Gilded Age homes.