Young Woman Asleep, Painting Signed And Dated 1883 By Achille Billot (1834-1921)

Achille Billot, originally from the Jura region, was born in Sellières in 1834.
He received his initial training from his friend, the sculptor Jean-Joseph Perraud (1819-1876), whose portrait he painted and which is now held at the Lons-le-Saunier Museum of Fine Arts.
He then went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he attended, among others, the studios of Robert-Fleury, Cogniet, and Dumont.
A remarkable draftsman, he regularly submitted his portrait drawings to the Salons, where he exhibited from 1864 to 1887. Billot, who briefly taught drawing at the Lons-le-Saunier Lycée, later founded the municipal drawing school in the same city, which he directed for 50 years. In 1879, he is listed as Assistant Curator of the Lons-le-Saunier Museum.
Deeply attached to his native region, he lived between Sellières and Lons-le-Saunier, whose museum houses the beautiful Portrait of the sculptor Jean-Joseph Perraud by Achille Billot, now displayed in the room dedicated to this artist's sculptures.

This sleeping young woman is signed and dated in the lower right corner "Achille Billot 1883."
Few paintings by this artist are known to exist; only a few painted portraits and some finely executed still lifes are known.