Léon Germain Pelouse
Léon Germain Pelouse was a self-taught French painter born in Pierrelaye. At sixteen, he began working as traveling salesman. He began painting when he was twenty, as he was serving in the French army as a conscript. His professional painting career began at twenty-seven, with the exhibition of his Les Environs de Précy at the Salon de Paris of 1865. Despite severe criticism, he continued painting. He moved to Brittany, and there, inspired by nature around Pont-Aven and Rochefort-en-Terre, Pelouse painted landscapes which were exhibited at the Salon de Paris in the following years. He received his first medal in 1873 for Vallée de Cernay. He finally gained success and critical approval. The French government bought many of his works which are now in the holdings of museums including the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée Malraux, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes.
