Pierre Auguste Cot (; 17 February 1837 – 2 August 1883) was a French painter of the

Academic Classicism Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie d ...

school.

Life and career

William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Gabrielle Cot - Sotheby's

Cot was born in

Bédarieux Bédarieux (; oc, Bedarius) is a town and commune in the Hérault department in the region of Occitanie in southern France. The town is surrounded by the Espinouse mountain and Orb river, and is in the Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park. The in ...

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

before going to Paris. He studied under

Leon Cogniet Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, Alexandre Cabanel and William-Adolphe Bouguereau. In 1863 he made a successful debut at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

, and from the 1870s, his popularity grew quickly. Cot enjoyed the patronage of the academic sculptor

Francisque Duret Francisque Joseph Duret (; 19 October 1804 – 26 May 1865) was a French sculptor, son and pupil of François-Joseph Duret (1732–1816). Life and career Before becoming a sculptor, Francisque Duret had shown interest in pursuing a career in thea ...

, whose daughter he married, and of Bouguereau, with whom he had also worked. Bouguereau painted a portrait of Cot's daughter, Gabrielle. Bouguereau had dined with the Cot family to celebrate Gabrielle's marriage to an architect named Zilin. The artist made a gift of the painting to the wife of Duret, Gabrielle's grandmother. Cot won various prizes and medals, and in 1874 was made Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

. He died in Paris at the age of 46. He is buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Works

He created several works of lasting popularity, including '' Le Printemps,'' featuring two young lovers sitting upon a swing, and '' The Storm.'' Both these paintings are on display at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

; ''The Storm'' belongs to the museum while ''Le Printemps'' is owned privately. Cot also was renowned for his

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s, which made up the majority of his work. The more enduring figurative work, such as '' The Storm,'' is comparatively rare. Shortly after his death at the age of forty-six (2 August 1883), a subscription was undertaken for a commemorative monument to the artist, which was erected at Bédarieux in 1892.

Selected works

* ''

Dionysia The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the sec ...

'' (1870),

Chi-Mei Museum The Chimei Museum () is a private museum established in 1992 by Shi Wen-long of Chi Mei Corporation in Rende District, Tainan, Taiwan. The museum's collection is divided into five categories: Fine arts (including painting, sculpture, decorative a ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

* '' Ophelia'' (1870) * ''The Gypsy'' or ''La Bohémienne'' (1871) * ''

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

'' or ''Le Printemps'' (1873),

* '' The Storm'' or ''La Tempête'' (1880), Metropolitan Museum of Art * ''The Reading Light'' or ''La Liseuse'' (about 1880) * ''Portrait of Madame Mas'' (1882) * ''Mireille'' (1882),

Musée Fabre The Musée Fabre is a museum in the southern French city of Montpellier, capital of the Hérault ''département''. The museum was founded by François-Xavier Fabre, a Montpellier painter, in 1825. Beginning in 2003, the museum underwent a 61.2 m ...

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

* ''Charity for My Sister'', Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Students

Ellen Day Hale Ellen Day Hale (February 11, 1855February 11, 1940) was an American Impressionism, Impressionist painter and printmaker from Boston. She studied art in Paris and during her adult life lived in Paris, London and Boston. She exhibited at the Paris S ...

(1855–1940) *

Anna Elizabeth Klumpke Anna Elizabeth Klumpke (October 28, 1856 – February 9, 1942) was an American portrait and Genre works, genre painter born in San Francisco, California, United States. She is perhaps best known for her portraits of famous women including Elizab ...

(1856–1942)

Gallery

Image:Ophelia (Pierre Auguste Cot).jpg, '' Ophelia,'' 1870 File:Pierre Auguste Cot - Girl with Basket of Oranges and Lemons.jpg, ''Girl with Basket of Oranges and Lemons'', 1871 Image:PIERRE-AUGUSTE COT - Primavera (Museo Metropolitano de Nueva York, 1873. Óleo sobre lienzo, 213.4 x 127 cm).jpg, ''

Springtime Springtime may refer to: * Spring (season), one of the four temperate seasons Film and television * ''Springtime'' (1920 film), an American silent comedy starring Oliver Hardy * ''Springtime'' (1929 film), a ''Silly Symphonies'' animated Disney ...

,'' 1873 File:Pierre Auguste Cot - Mireille faisant l'aumône à la sortie de Saint-Trophime (1882).jpg, ''Mireille Giving Alms at Saint-Trophime, 1882 File:Cot-Sainte Elisabeth de Hongrie soignant les malades.jpg, ''

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (german: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, hu, Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, sk, Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, ...

Curing the Sick'', 1883

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cot, Pierre Auguste 1837 births 1883 deaths People from Bédarieux 19th-century French painters French male painters Academic art Academic staff of the Académie Julian Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French male artists