Portrait Of A Smiling Woman, 1875. Lionel Royer (1852-1926)

A beautiful portrait of a smiling woman with long brown hair. One might think of an artist, actress, singer, or musician. Lionel Royer (1852-1926) Genre and portrait painter. Lionel Royer, born December 25, 1852, in Château-du-Loir and died June 30, 1926, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, was a French painter. Enlisting as a volunteer at under the age of 18 in the Volunteers of the West, he fought in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and notably participated in the Battle of Loigny on December 2, 1870, alongside General Charette de La Contrie. The latter, having noticed his talent for drawing, secured him a scholarship to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He studied under Alexandre Cabanel and William Bouguereau. He exhibited at the Salon from 1874, winning a 3rd class medal in 1884 and a 2nd class medal in 1896. He won the second Grand Prix de Rome for painting in 1882 and a bronze medal at the 1900 Universal Exhibition. He then became a renowned portraitist and, above all, a history painter. WIKIPEDIA: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Royer Oil on canvas in good condition, with an old restoration visible on the back and a network of age-related craquelure, more or less visible depending on the light. 60 x 50 cm