Constantin FONT On Sale

Born on January 11, 1890, in Auch and died in 1954 in Paris, Constantin Font is a French artist, painter of genre, nudes, landscapes, orientalist, sculptor and engraver. An outstanding member of the Society of French Artists, he had been a student of Fernand Cormon. After obtaining a mention in 1910 at the Salon, he obtained a silver medal in 1921, the year of his Prix de Rome. Font exhibited the same year at the Salon of French Artists. Since then, he appears with honor at the demonstrations of this Society, where he was awarded the gold medal in 1922. Font won the Grand Prix of Athens and was a member of the Toulouse School of Fine Arts and a member of the institute in 1926. He won the Grand prize of the International Exhibition of 1937 and was made Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1935. Font died in Paris in 1954.

Figurative art, as opposed to abstract art, retains features from the observable world in its representational depictions of subject matter. Most commonly, figurative paintings reference and explore the human body, but they can also include landscapes, architecture, plants and animals — all portrayed with realism.

While the oldest figurative art dates back tens of thousands of years to cave wall paintings, figurative works made from observation became especially prominent in the early Renaissance. Artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance masters created naturalistic representations of their subjects.

Pablo Picasso is lauded for laying the foundation for modern figurative art in the 1920s. Although abstracted, this work held a strong connection to representing people and other subjects. Other famous figurative artists include Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Figurative art in the 20th century would span such diverse genres as Expressionism, Pop art and Surrealism.

Today, a number of figural artists — such as Sedrick Huckaby, Daisy Patton and Eileen Cooper — are making art that uses the human body as its subject.

Because figurative art represents subjects from the real world, natural colors are common in these paintings. A piece of figurative art can be an exciting starting point for setting a tone and creating a color palette in a room.

Browse an extensive collection of figurative paintings on 1stDibs.