Saint Germain Des Prés, Signed Frédéric Léon

This watercolor of the Place Saint Germain des Prés from the 1900s shows us the Paris of the Belle Époque where cars were still rare, very lively, we see mostly horse-drawn carriages and handcarts, but the square also evokes post-war Paris, on the left we can see the marquise of the café des deux magots. The famous neighborhood has captivated the world, with its cellars where jazz was played, and its vibrant cultural life fostered by renowned figures such as Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Françoise Sagan, Boris Vian, and many others. Saint-Germain-des-Prés is also the heart of Paris, with its picturesque little streets in the 6th arrondissement, Place Furstenberg, and Rue Saint-Benoît. It's close to the Théâtre de l'Odéon, just steps away from the Church of Saint-Sulpice, not far from the Panthéon and the Luxembourg Gardens, and its gardens where it's pleasant to sit and dream, near the Medici Fountain or the basin. And even though this watercolor dates from the beginning of the century, it brings to life a forgotten Paris through this depiction. Léon Frédéric was a Belgian painter, born on August 26, 1856, in Brussels and died on January 25, 1940, in Schaerbeek. The son of a jeweler, he apprenticed with a decorative painter in 1871 and attended evening classes at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts. In 1874, he worked in the studio of Jean-François Portaels, and the following year, he and several other young painters rented a studio. He failed to win the Prix de Rome, but his father offered him the opportunity to travel to Italy from 1878 to 1879. In 1878, he exhibited at the Brussels Salon and made his debut with the Essor group, composed mainly of realist painters. He subsequently exhibited in Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Munich, Nice, and Paris. He received a bronze and a gold medal in Paris at the Universal Expositions of 1889 and 1900, as well as a medal in Berlin in 1891. He was made a Knight of the Order of Leopold and ennobled by King Albert I, who granted him the title of Baron. During the 1880s, he became one of the most popular painters in Belgium. His works are featured in numerous museums, including the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, the Royal Museums of Belgium in Brussels, the Ixelles Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Liège. In Paris, they are held at the Musée d'Orsay and in Lille at the Palais des Beaux-Arts. His works can also be found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Ohara Museum of Art in Kurashiki. Signed lower right. Frame dimensions: 45 cm x 58 cm. Image dimensions: 29 cm x 42 cm.