ASPIRATION: Èdouard Cortès, Painter of Paris

Published 24 Sep 2020

“I was born from and for painting…” Èdouard Cortès

Èdouard Leon Cortès was born in Lagny, France on August 6, 1882 into a family of artists and artisans. His birth certificate records the child as Èdouard Leon Cortès, but at six weeks old he was baptized Henri Èdouard Cortès.

He used the name Henri for several years, signing his early paintings Henri, Henri Èdouard or Èdouard H. After the death of his father in 1908, Cortès reverted to using Èdouard. After 1910, Cortès signed his paintings Èdouard Cortès, Ed Cortès or simply E. Cortès.

Cortès's' father, Antonio Cortès, born in Seville, Spain, was a successful painter for the royal court in Spain. In 1855, Antonio travelled to Paris to attend the World Fair and fell in love with the French people and countryside. As a result, he settled in Paris.

While there, Antonio married his first wife, Angéline Cécile Berger. The couple had a son, André, who was born in Paris. In 1866, Antonio and his young family left Paris to settle in Lagny, a small village east of Paris where he opened a studio and became recognized as a painter of country scenes and farm animals.

In 1870 at the height of the Franco-Prussian War and after the death of Angéline, Antonio and his son moved back to the safety of the city to escape the dangers of the war. In 1872, Antonio married Lagny dressmaker Léontine Augustine Frappart. They had two children, Jeanne and Èdouard. All three children followed their father to pursue a career in painting.

André, the eldest, was primarily an accomplished painter of horses. His younger sister Jeanne, like her father, painted pastoral scenes of farm yards and flocks of sheep.

Èdouard, the youngest of the siblings, exhibited an exceptional artistic talent. Cortès attended a private elementary school until the age of 13. Upon leaving school, he listed himself in the local census as “artist-painter” and his nationality as Spanish, probably as a tribute to his father.

Èdouard Cortès continued his artistic training at his father’s Lagny studio, getting encouragement from his brother, sister and local artists. For centuries, Lagny was a magnet for artists attracted to the light there, the lush landscapes and the Marne.

The presence of these artists working in the most up-to-date methods and style were a major influence on Cortès' development as a painter. However, the greatest influence came from his father and Barbizon painters Constant Troyon and Henri Harpignies.

In 1899, at the age of 16, Èdouard Cortès exhibited his first work of a farmer driving a horse-drawn plough with a god by his side, which revealed the influence of his father’s animal paintings. The work was well received by the critics and the public - helping establish Edouard’s favourable reputation in Paris. The press there awarded this young prodigy status of a legend and placed crowns of victory upon his head. Everyone was discussing the young Henri Cortès.

“I do nothing but paint. I stand in front of my easel at around eight in the morning; from twelve to two I eat lunch and rest, and I paint in the afternoon till dusk, because I don’t like artificial light. That gives me eight to ten hours a day to paint”...Èdouard Cortès

“As long as I am able to get up and go to my easel, I will paint. Until my last breath, because I was born from and for painting, and I will die happy if I am in front of my easel” ...Èdouard Cortès.

Cortès continued to live with his parents in Lagny until just after the death of his father in 1908. He and his mother then moved into a house and studio at 22 rue Macheret. Except for a few years in Paris and Normandy, Cortès spent most of his life living at 22 rue Macheret and working in his studio.

Èdouard married Fernande Joyeuse in 1914 and had a child - Jacqueline Simone in 1916. The First World War interrupted the life of this young family. Although a pacifist, Èdouard Cortès joined the French military at the age of 32. He was sent to the front lines as a contract agent.

Sustaining a bayonet wound, Cortès was evacuated to a military hospital. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Once recovered, Èdouard Cortès was assigned to a staff position, where his artistic talents proved invaluable in sketching enemy positions. After the war, Cortès became even more pacifist in his convictions and refused to accept the Légion d'Honneur when it was offered by the French government.

In 1919, Èdouard Cortès was demobilised and retuned to Paris. His wife, Fernande would die in 1918 leaving Cortès and his two year old daughter, Jacqueline, alone. Shortly thereafter Édouard would marry his sister-in-law Lucienne Joyeuse. They settled in Paris and Édouard continued to paint views of Paris.

In 1925, Cortès and his family moved back to Lagny (in Normandy) and he began painting scenes of country life - including landscapes, interior scenes and still lives. Later, Cortes bought a second home in the Normandy village of Ouistreham where he spent much of his time painting between 1935 and 1941.

After returning to Lagny, Èdouard Cortès became an active member of the Union des Beaux-Arts de Lagny and was the Unions first president. Their inaugural exhibition was held in 1927. Cortès continued to exhibit at the Union until the late 1930's. During this period he received many awards, gained great notoriety and was a frequent exhibitor at the exhibition halls in Paris.

During the years of World War II, Cortès and his family lived in Cormelles-le-Royal (in Normandy) in an attempt to escape the harsh realities of war. In 1954, moved back to Lagny, where he passed his life in a simple manner amongst a small circle of friends.

Èdouard continued to paint, mastering several mediums (oil, gouache, watercolor and pastel) to execute his exquisite variations of his primary theme: the beauty of Paris. When asked why his works still showed horse-drawn carriages, omnibuses and fashions from before 1930, Cortès said he wanted to stop history in 1939 before the Second World War. His paintings by now were in demand all over the world, and he achieved special success in the United States and Canada, where he had first exhibited in 1945.

“I had the good fortune to inherit some talent, and also to have been taught by my father. If my paintings please those who view them and if they give a feeling of places and moments, or waken curiosity about the history of a monument of a place, then I am fully satisfied with my success.”... Èdouard Cortès

Èdouard was a very modest man. He refused all interviews, cared nothing about documenting his career, and even declined in 1955 to be the subject of an hour-long filmed documentary. He preferred to remain anonymous as an individual to allow his paintings to speak for themselves.