Edouard Cortes Oil Painting

Édouard Leon Cortès is widely known for his Impressionistic renderings of Parisian promenades and rustic French hamlets. The son and pupil of Spanish painter Antonio Cortès, his influences included Barbizon painters Constant Troyon and Henri Harpignies.

Establishing a name for himself early on in his long career, Cortès first exhibited a painting he called La Labour at the Société des Artistes Français when he was still in his late teens. He found success among art critics as well as the public and earned renown in France. Cortès went on to study at École des Beaux-Arts.

As World War I gained steam, Cortès willingly joined the French military effort even though he was a pacifist. The artist spent time sketching enemy positions on the front lines, and this may have deepened his anti-war resolve. When he was able to return to his easel, Cortès desired solely to paint peaceful scenes of France’s capital city.

Later, during World War II, Cortès and his family spent time in Normandy to escape the horrors of the conflict. When asked about his depictions of horse-drawn carriages in the streets of Paris as well as outdated fashions — dresses and other garments that bore the hallmarks of pre-1930s fashion design, for example — he cited a fantasy he had about being able to “stop time” so that the Second World War wouldn’t have taken place.

A humble man, Cortès refused interviews and preferred anonymity. He remarked that his oil paintings, pastels and watercolors should speak for themselves. Cortès was prolific — he painted the streets of Paris and its well-known landmarks as well as majestic landscapes, interiors, boats and scenes that unfolded at Parisian harbors. Ten years after his death in 1969, the city of Lagny — where Cortès had spent most of his life — named a street in his honor.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of original Édouard Leon Cortès paintings.

Painting is an art form that has spanned innumerable cultures, with artists using the medium to tell stories, explore and communicate ideas and express themselves. To bring abstract paintings, landscape paintings, still-life paintings and other original paintings into your home is to celebrate and share in the long tradition of this discipline.

When we look at paintings, particularly those that originated in the past, we learn about history, other cultures and countries of the world. Like every other work of art, paintings — whether they are contemporary creations or works that were made during the 19th century — can often help us clearly see and understand the world around us in a meaningful and interesting way.

Cave walls were the canvases for what were arguably the world’s first landscape paintings, which depict natural scenery through art. Portrait paintings and drawings, which, along with sculpture, were how someone’s appearance was recorded prior to the advent of photography, are at least as old as Ancient Egypt. In the Netherlands, landscapes were a major theme for painters as early as the 1500s. Later, artists in Greece, Rome and elsewhere created vast wall paintings to decorate stately homes, churches and tombs.

Today, creating a wall of art is a wonderful way to enhance your space, showcase beautiful pieces and tie an interior design together.

No matter your preference, whether you favor Post-Impressionist paintings, animal paintings, Surrealism, Pop art or another movement or specific period, arranging art on a blank wall allows you to evoke emotions in a room while also showing off your tastes and interests. A symmetrical wall arrangement may comprise a grid of four to six pieces or, for an odd number of works, a horizontal row. Asymmetrical arrangements, which may be small clusters of art or large, salon-style gallery walls, have a more collected and eclectic feel.

Download the 1stDibs app, which includes a handy “View on Wall” feature that allows you to see how a particular artwork will look on a particular wall, and read about how to arrange wall art. And if you’re searching for the perfect palette for your interior design project, what better place to turn than to the art world’s masters of color? 

On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive collection of paintings and other fine art for your home or office. Browse abstract paintings, portrait paintings, paintings by emerging artists and more today.