Léon Lhermitte

1844-1925

Léon Lhermitte (1844–1925) was a French naturalist painter and etcher known for his powerful depictions of rural labour and peasant life. Born in Mont-Saint-Père in Picardy, he studied under Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran at the Special School of Drawing in Paris and later at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he befriended Henri Fantin-Latour and Auguste Rodin. His breakthrough came with The Harvesters' Pay (1882), which established his reputation as the "painter of harvesters." Lhermitte achieved international recognition, regularly exhibiting at the Salon de Paris and selling through London dealers. His innovative use of pastels impressed even Vincent van Gogh, who ranked his work alongside the Old Masters. He served as juror at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle and was elected to the Academy of Fine Arts in 1905. Promoted to Commander of the Legion of Honour in 1910, Lhermitte remained a celebrated figure in naturalist art until his death in Paris.