Son of painter-etcher Maurice Boutet de Monvel and a pupil of Luc-Oliver Merson and Jean Dampt, Bernard Boutet de Monvel exhibited his work at the Salon from 1902. He produced about a hundred stylized and refined color etchings, often featuring Balzac’s Lions and the elegant figures of the Directory period. Besides these evocations of the demi-monde, he also depicted more popular subjects (The Beggars, The Tramps) and landscapes. He was present at the Salon of the Société de la Gravure Originale en Couleurs from 1904, until 1911 and after the war in 1920. From 1912 he also contributed to the Gazette du Bon Ton. He worked for fashion magazines Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar as well as becoming one of the most influential French illustrators of children’s books. Around 1909 using his trademark of clean lines and pale colors he became one of the most celebrated portraitists of his time.
Bernard Boutet de Monvel visited the region of Thessaloniki together with his friend and colleague Paul Jouve in 1915. His drawings and watercolors from this period can be found in the collection of Thessaloniki Historical Center ( Kentro Historias Thessalonikis) in Greece, together with more than 200 other drawings and watercolors of various French artists who visited Macedonia in the years of the First World War (for example Paul Jouve, François Salvat, Roger Irriera, Lous Süe, etc..
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