La Collation, 1872 by Émile Villa

Émile Villa (FRENCH, 1836 - 1900) Émile Villa studied from 1861 at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Charles Gleyre and Auguste Glaize. His work includes portraits of children, animals and genre scenes. During exhibitions at the Paris Salon, where he was involved in the years 1859-1882 and over again, he was primarily known for his portraits of women in decorative arrangements, which reflect the tastes of the Parisian audience. ABOUT THE ARTIST: In a letter to his parents, the artist Frédéric Bazille (1841—1870) wrote: “[Émile] Villa and [Claude] Monet are the only students from the studio whom I see on a regular basis; they like me and I like them too, for they are really charming young men.” (Letter from Frédéric Bazille, December 11, 1861)It was 1861 and Émile Villa had just been accepted to the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where many of the greatest artists of the past 200 years — French or otherwise — had been trained. Along with Monet and Bazille, Villa had be