Léon Félix (1869-1940) The Monastery Of Espagnac Sainte-eulalie Lot

Léon Pierre FÉLIX
(Périgueux 1869 - 1940)
The monastery of Espagnac Sainte-Eulalie in the Lot
Oil on canvas
H. 65.5 cm; L. 54 cm
Signed lower left

Provenance: Private collection, Paris

Léon Pierre Félix, born in Périgueux, quickly joined the capital to train at the National School of Fine Arts where some of his works from 1892 to 1897 can be found again. He was a student of Bonnat, Aviat, Cormon, Tony Robert-Fleury, Merson and again William Bouguereau. He was also a member in Paris, of the Salon des Artistes Français from 1894 and will be part of the jury from 1926. He exhibits very regularly at this salon, at the National Fine Arts, at the Independents and abroad, without forgetting the Périgueux Salons.

Some of his works, acquired by the State for the Luxembourg Museum and the Petit-Palais, are a consecration for him. They can be found today at the Bonnat-Helleu Museum in Bayonne, the MAAP in Périgueux, in Perpignan, Melun, the Polish Embassy, Glasgow, the IFAO in Cayre, etc.…

Emeritus portraitist, he has been able to integrate into scenes of outdoor life, his talents for the representation of human physiognomies and the lightness of movement. Several of his most beautiful paintings in this spirit are to be found in the Périgueux museum. Some large formats resembling decorations have been visible on the art market in recent years, always in this atmosphere close to Bonnat and also leaning towards colors and textures visible among the Symbolists.

In 1935, Félix won the Prix d'Indochine, which he visited shortly after. He brought back many drawings representing traditional outfits from Cambodia or Vietnam, such as painted compositions of local life or architecture that he exhibited and gave on his return to France.

He obtained at the Salon a third class medal in 1898, an honorable mention at the Universal Exhibition of 1900 in Paris, and the Marie-Bashkirtseff prize in 1908. He was made official painter of the Navy in 1910 and knight of the Legion of honor in 1914. He died at his home on rue Chanzy in Périgueux in 1940.

If Félix is considered a great portrait painter, no one will be able to miss his talents as a landscape painter. Many of his portraits are taken outdoors, bathed in shimmering light, giving the effigies represented a frame, a feeling of reality. Léon Félix does not hesitate to travel the Périgord and sometimes the Lot to take picturesque views of places that are often harmless to everyone. He knows how to give them life by his mastery of the technique many times rewarded.

Located on the banks of the Célé in the Lot, the magnificent monastery of Espagnac Sainte-Eulalie has been listed as a historical monument since 1925. This group of buildings has its foundations in the 12th century with the foundation of an oratory by Bertrand de Griffeuille , monk who will build several priories and monasteries. From the 13th century, a community of women settled in Espagnac and built the monastery church. The current nave is from this period and contains the tombs of several lords and protectors of the monastery. The visible apse of the church dates from the fourteenth century, but was longer by four bays (it has only one today), destroyed during the wars of religion and after the Revolution. The nuns lived in buildings annexed to the cloister, of which only one side remains, and the visitors had their accommodation in buildings slightly off-center which can be seen in the first line of the composition.

Léon Félix takes here his point of view of the south-east, on the other bank of the Célé with a very tight framing noticeably reminiscent of the work of the famous regional painter, Henri Martin, used to poplars taking practically the leading role.