Brief Biography-Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat from Bayonne, France, lived in Madrid from twelve until 1853. He studied under Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta in Madrid and worked in the studios of Paul Delaroche and Léon Cogniet in Paris. The work of many Spanish artists influenced him, as did masters such as Titian and Van Dyke.
He won a scholarship in Bayonne, which enabled him to study in Rome for three years. Then, in Paris, he established himself as a highly successful portraitist and became a Grand Officer of the Légion d’Honneur and professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
In his native Bayonne, he built a museum which includes his collection of works from all over Europe by the Old Masters.
Bonnat influenced painters like Georg von Rosen and tutored many successful artists such as Béraud, Sargent, Caillebotte, Eakins, Brožík, Toulouse-Lautrec, Munch, and many more. He died in Monchy-Saint-Éloi in 1922.