SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
A watercolour painter, draughtsman, engraver, writer and collector, Maurice Leloir pursued a practice that combined painting, illustration and an interest in the costumes of the past. Born in Paris in 1853, he died there in 1940; he was the son and pupil of the painter Auguste Leloir and the watercolourist Héloïse Suzanne Colin. After a classical education at Sainte-Barbe, he began studies at the Beaux-Arts, interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. From 1876, he exhibited paintings and watercolours at the Salon de Paris, and later at the Salon des artistes français, of which he became a member. Works mentioned for this period include Les Marionnettes, a domestic scene featuring his nephews, Le Dernier Voyage de Voltaire, presented on the occasion of the centenary in 1878, and the Dragonnades au Maupuy, dated 1890.
His work as an illustrator extended to fans, periodicals and books, particularly those intended for young readers, such as Richelieu by Théodore Cahu. From the 1890s, Leloir and his pupils produced images inspired by photographs, depicting the costumes and postures of the past. In 1884, Guy de Maupassant dedicated his short story Idylle to him. At the same time, he played an active role in the Société des aquarellistes français, founded in 1878: he served as its secretary and then as its president, a position he held until the society was dissolved in 1935.
In 1907, he took part in founding the Société de l’histoire du costume, alongside, among others, Édouard Detaille, Maurice Maindron and Jacques Doucet. In 1920, the Society donated its collection to the City of Paris; it comprises nearly a thousand garments from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Leloir organised two exhibitions at the musée Galliera, in 1937 and 1938. The first, Cent ans de costume parisien, brought together costumes, accessories, paintings, drawings and prints; the second, presented in 1938, was entitled Costumes d’autrefois. XVIe, XVIIe, XVIIIe siècles.
This profile brings together identity references for Maurice Leloir and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Dobiaschofsky · Genève Enchères · Germann
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Oil on wood
Le chemin du retour.
Öl auf Holz
Catalogue period : 2021-05-08
Published result : 400 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 450
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Gouache
Scène galante
gouache
Catalogue period : 2019-04-30
Published result : 300 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 400–600
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Watercolour
Richelieu prodiguant ses dernières recommandations au roi Louis XIII
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2018-12-11
Published result : 600 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 600–800
View the lot at the auction house ↗Watercolour
Schlacht an der Küste.
Aquarell
Date to be documented
Published result : 1100 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1200
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Watercolour
Jeune femme assise, 1881
Aquarell.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
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