Lucien Pénat, Portrait Of A Man With A Turban, Pastel, 1918

Lucien Pénat (1873-1955); Portrait of a Man with a Turban, pastel, signed and dated 1918. Unframed.

Lucien Pénat was a French painter and printmaker born in 1873 in Allier and died in 1955 in Paris. He initially trained in his region before associating with Parisian artistic circles, notably with masters such as Léon Bonnat. He distinguished himself early on for his talent, winning an honorable mention at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1896, then the first Grand Prix de Rome in engraving in 1902 for his work "Study from Nature of a Standing Man." This prize marked the beginning of a prolific career, marked by numerous awards, including a second-class medal at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1909.
Lucien Pénat is particularly renowned for his intaglio prints, but he also practiced painting, pastels, and drawing. His subjects are varied: landscapes, portraits, orientalist scenes (notably after a trip to Morocco), as well as representations of working-class life and the landscapes of his native region, Bourbonnais. He also taught at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1934, training several generations of artists.