Portrait of An Elegant Lady

Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant, born François Jean Baptiste Benjamin Constant on June 10, 1845, in Batignolles-Monceau, Paris, emerged as a distinguished French painter and engraver renowned for his orientalist themes and portraits of the French and British elite. The son of Joseph Jean-Baptiste Constant, a geographer, and Catherine Pichot-Duclos, his early life was marked by the loss of his mother at the age of ten, leading him to be raised by his aunts in Toulouse. There, he pursued his artistic education under Jules Garipuy at the École des beaux-arts de Toulouse, forming lasting friendships with notable sculptors of his time. In 1866, a scholarship enabled his move to Paris to study at the École des beaux-arts under Alexandre Cabanel, despite initial setbacks in competitions like the Prix de Rome. His early work, influenced by Eugène Delacroix and a transformative journey to Tanger in 1870, showcased a vivid orientalist style. The Franco-Prussian war interrupted his burgeoning career, but post-war, he married Delphine Badier in 1871. Constant's legacy is not only in his evocative orientalist paintings but also in his role as an educator, succeeding Cabanel at the École des beaux-arts. His works, such as 'Hamlet et le Roi,' reflect his mastery and are preserved in prestigious institutions like the Musée d'Orsay.