Additional Images

Provenance:

The Cooling Galleries, London, UK & Toronto, ON
Private Collection, Toronto, ON

Note:

This lot is accompanied by a certificate issued by the Comité Édouard Cortès, under N°EC-CEC-2026/84. It will be included in the supplement to the catalogue raisonné of Edouard Cortès’s work, which is currently being prepared.

Born in 1882 into a lineage of Spanish court painters in Lagny-sur-Marne, France, Cortés began his career exhibiting at the Paris Salon at the young age of sixteen. It was not until a decade later, though, that the artist would develop his hallmark Post-Impressionist scenes of Paris, epitomized in Paris; Porte Saint-Denis au couchant and Paris; Rue Royale et la Madeleine après la pluie.

“In 1906, Cortès exhibited the painting Le Boulevard de la Madeleine, soir d’automne, an early example of what would become his signature image of a Paris streetscape. He chose the same type of image for the next Salon as well, submitting Soir de neige près du square Montholon. By 1907, he was confident enough of his painting to organize an auction of his own works at the Hôtel Drouot in April 1907, where he earned 250 francs. Having achieved a certain success as a painter, Cortès began to broaden his scope, exhibiting his work throughout France at regional salons beginning with the Toulouse International Industrial Salon in 1908. There, he received a third-class medal for La Port de Pantin soir de neige,[…] In the following years, Cortès established a pattern of exhibitions throughout the country.”[1]

The success of his Paris street scenes continued to grow through the First World War, as locals, soldiers, and tourists alike were drawn to Cortès’ idyllic depictions of the city. This success eventually led to the artist’s first commercial representation abroad, here in Toronto.

“The late 1920s brought an international client, the T. Eaton Company Limited of Toronto[…] In 1928, Eaton commissioned thirty paintings by Cortès to be shown in Toronto, Winnipeg, and Montreal between November and December. Eaton's remained a steady client until the Great Depression of the 1930s. More importantly, it introduced Cortès to the North American commercial art market.”[2]

The appeal of Cortès’ Parisian streetscapes and international success still stands nearly a century after his introduction to the broader art world. These charming and timeless scenes are sure to continue to entice collectors and aficionados for decades to come.

[1] Janet Whitmore, BIOGRAPHY - Edouard Léon Cortès (1882 - 1969), Reh Galleries, Inc., accessed April 13, 2026, https://rehs.com/eng/images/edouard-l%C3%A9on-cort%C3%A8s/.
[2] Ibid.