Léon Bonnat. Du pays basque à Victor Hugo.

This exhibition catalog is dedicated to the painter Léon Bonnat (1833-1922), who was one of the most important artists of his time. A native of Bayonne, he was the director of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and many of his students. However, the reception of his work was already divided during his lifetime. The choice of tradition in painting made him fall little by little into oblivion. Decried by the moderns, Bonnat was seen as the embodiment of academicism, which was to be debunked at all costs.
This exhibition is the first devoted to the artist since a posthumous exhibition in 1924. It looks at the artist's work in a new light, revealing a singular naturalism and a work that is more complex than it appears.