A pupil of Léon Cogniet at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts, Lefebvre won the Prix de Rome in 1861. He was a portraitist and a painter of beautiful women. He was also an instructor at the Académie Julian in Paris since 1870, and was a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. The subject of this drawing, a drawing class of female students, could be related with the Académie Julian. Established in 1868 by Rodolphe Julian, the Académie was a private studio school for art students. At the time, the government sanctioned art school of France (the École des Beaux-Arts) did not allow women to enroll for study, but the new Académie Julian permitted them to enroll. Women participated in the same studies as men, including the basis of art training at the time — drawing and painting of nude models. |
