constant-le-breton-french-1895-1985-still-life-with-napoleonic-military-uniform
Lot 342
Constant Le Breton (French, 1895-1985), Still Life with Napoleonic Military Uniform
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Oil on canvas, signed lower right, presented in an ornate wood and composition frame with linen liner. Included with the lot is an artist monograph book, published in 1957 by Henri Colas, 17 Rue Des Gobelins, Paris.

Stretcher size: 29 x 39 1/2 in.; Frame dimensions 37 1/4 x 48 in.

Private Collection, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Born in the Anjou region into a family of sailors from the Loire, Constant LeBreton started his career as an apprentice with a company of decorators first in Nantes, then in Le Mans. in 1915 he was called into in World War I, seeing action in both Gallipoli and in Serbia. After the armistice, Constant moved to Paris and worked as a wood engraver and illustrator of books. Influenced by Chardin and Manet, he received a grant from the Blumenthal Foundation and devoted his time as a portraitist of contemporaries, as well as painting still lives and landscapes. His paintings are included in private collections and museums in France, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Greece and the United Kingdom.

Small puncture to top right; some frame abrasions; two small areas of spot retouch visible under UV light; some light areas of drying crackle; adhesive paper to stretcher edge. Book with cover wear and some toning.