Léon Barillot,French (1844-1929)

 

Born in Montigny-les-Metz in 1884, Barillot’s first job was designing new patterns for his father’s wallpaper factory.  Wishing to study art, he went to Paris in 1869, the year in which he first took part in the Salon.  When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, he returned to Metz and was there during the siege.  He returned to Paris after the Commune and worked particularly with Bonnat.  He was awarded a gold medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle, and several medals at exhibitions in various cities including London and Melbourne.  Barillot was a member of the jury for painting at the Salon des Artistes Français and was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur.

 

He often painted outdoor scenes and from 1873 he painted landscapes with animals grazing on the banks of the Seine and the Sologne and in the Charolais region.  He excelled at conveying the cattle’s expression, at times angry, at times dreamy and pensive.  He showed a fine understanding of their anatomy beneath their thick, silky and supple coats.  His compositions are large, showing the bright light of the sun through flickering tree leaves. 

 

Barillot’s works are well represented in museum collections throughout France and engravings of his work are held in the permanent collections of both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum.