Biography
Adolphe Alexandre Lesrel (1839-1929) was a nineteenth century French artist who specialized in painting historical genre scenes featuring cavaliers and elegantly dressed ladies. Like Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier (1815 – 1891), by whom he was greatly influenced, Lesrel’s style was derived from a study of seventeenth century Dutch painting and is characterized by its painstaking technique and attention to details of dress, furnishings and accessories. He also painted many pictures of cardinals.
Lesrel exhibited regularly throughout his career; he was a member of the Société des Artistes Français from 1885 and he became an associate of the Société Nationale des Beaux – Arts from its foundation in 1890. He also exhibited at the Paris Salon where he won an honourable mention in 1889. In England, he exhibited many works at the Arthur Tooth and Sons Gallery in London. He is last recorded sending works from his home in Genets to England in 1921.
The work of Lesrel is represented in several museums including the Museum of Art in Baltimore, the New York Public Library and the Museum of Nantes, France.