Friday, June 17, 2011

Artist Feature: Leo Fontan

Leo Fontan, a French painter, is an artist I've recently discovered and am quite mad about. His illustrations/paintings are just gorgeous, simple yet full of eye-catching details, and have a whimsy and often a sense of mischief that I love. If you look him up on Google images, you will find that he appears to be a "leg man" - I swear about 1/3 of the images were these stocking-clad leg portraits he's done! Anyway, I gathered up some other ones because his people portraits are his best, I think! From what I could find, he was born in France in 1883, and died in 1965. Apparently he started losing his eyesight towards the end of his life, but he continued painting. And no wonder! This was pretty much all I could discover, there was only a French Wikipedia page on him.
Enjoy!

Subtitle translated reads "Queen for a Day".

Okay, I took French for 8 years but I'm not sure about this translation - Title: "Honeymoon".
Subtitle/caption:
- "I am sure that you don't love me anymore"
- "But why, my dear?"
- "Ah well... one couldn't dispute this since this morning!
"
... this is all with high-school level training in French, so take it with a grain of salt. 

Translated, the title and caption read "Blue, White, Red" - "The Cockade of Mimi Pinson".



Love this!

"The Last Preparations for Spring" - "Love Rejuvenates Nature"

Oh god, those muttonchops need to go. I feel like this is a funny example of that "sinful French" style that gave France (especially Paris) such allure to thrill-seekers in the early 20th century. 

"Dethroned". I love this color scheme.


"A Gust of Wind and a Lightweight Lady". This may be my favorite of the bunch!

Currently my desktop background.

One of the leg paintings.

Another legs painting.

"Unmasked" or "Uncovered". I like the double-meaning in the fact that she's taken off her mask and is showin' a little leg. 

Strange but beautiful.


"The Daisy"

"Painting Without Restraint" or "Painting Without a Mistress". The subtitle is a pun - on the "Academie des Beaux-Arts", a French art society and "Fards", meaning makeup. It reads "A Prime Candidate of The Academy of Fine Makeup".

"A Dip in the Water" - "Progressive Training in Sea Baths"
- Emily

8 comments:

  1. These are fabulous! And quite naughty! Woohoo! My favorites are "Honeymoon," "Dethroned" and "Unmasked," but they're all great!

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  2. Yay! I'm glad you like them!
    Hah - there it is! "Honeymoon"! I don't know how I didn't make that connection before. Anyway, it makes so much more sense now!

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  3. I just found you through Tea With the Baroness and I love your blog:)). These illustrations are incredible - what a talent Leo was. Thank you for showing them off here. I'm your newest follower! xo

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  4. Indeed gorgous and new to me. Thank you!

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  5. Gorgeous pictures!
    About the honeymoon one, the last sentence translates as "We haven't fought this morning yet!" - I'm French ;-)

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