Adolphe Piot
Adolphe Piot was a French painter who studied in the School of Fine Arts of Paris, where he became the student of Léon Cogniet. From him, Piot developed his interest in painting the human form. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1850. Little is known about his life but we know that in 1864 he was living in New York City and exhibited a portrait at the National Academy of Design. He then returned to Paris and became famous in high society; a lot of ladies wanted their portraits painted by him.
He took advantage of the increasing demand for portraits from wealthy Parisians so most of the paintings submitted to the Salon were commissioned portraits of women.
Piot particularly liked to paint young ladies in genre scenes or feminine portraits. Few painters were equally talented as him in depicting the feminine grace in an innocent, picturesque and elegant way. His style corresponded to the taste of the middle class at this time of the Belle Époque.
He very often used a black or dark background to emphasize the face of the model and the lines of her face as in today’s portrait. The girl is idealized and full of delicacy; her shy smile is bringing a bit of emotion wanted by the artist. This captivating portrait, because of the presence of origami (very rarely represented in art history) must be classified as a scène de genre (genre painting). One of the birds is nearly falling, which gives more depth in the composition.
- Tony Goupil
P.S. For diving in the 19th-century Parisian world of art check our article Montmartre – The Home To Many Inspirations.