Fernand Pelez was a French painter of Spanish origin who worked in Paris. Pelez portrayed social issues in a realistic

Realism (visual arts)

Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...

 style.

Biography

His father, Fernand Pelez de Cordova (1820–1899), was a Parisian painter as well, and was one of his teachers.

Pelez was a commercial failure in the 1880s, and after the failure of his L'Humanité at the Salon of 1896, Pelez became something of a recluse, refusing to exhibit or sell his work.

A major exhibition of his work was mounted in Paris, at the Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris

Petit Palais

The Petit Palais is a museum in Paris, France. Built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900 to Charles Girault's designs, it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts ....

, from 24 September 2009 to 17 January 2010.

Works

Among his best known works are The Mouthful of Bread and Grimaces et Misères (also known as Les Saltimbanques (1888)). Consisting of five panels and measuring together 221 cm by 625 cm, the latter work is now in the Petit Palais

Petit Palais

The Petit Palais is a museum in Paris, France. Built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900 to Charles Girault's designs, it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts ....

, Paris.

External links

• L'express
• Robert Rosenblum, In Art The Ape Of Nature, Abrams Inc., NY 1981.
• French version of wikipedia