Talent runs in Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel's family

Louis- Maurice Boutet de Monvel was the grandson of famous Opera tenor Adolphe Nourrit who was in turn the son of a famed Opera tenor. Nourrit’s singing incited the riot that began the Belgian Revolution in an incident known as 'Night at the Opera.' No found connection (except in my head) to the Queen album or Marx Bros. film A Night at the Opera.

To sweeten the genetic pot: Boutet’s father was a renowned physics and chemistry professor. Additionally, his sons Roger and Bernard were both dandies whose artistic endeavors in fashion, art, and literature led to gigs at places such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Bernard and 47 others died tragically in a 1949 plane crash.

Louis-Maurice himself was a known portraitist who became a well respected children’s book author when he realized he needed something steady to pay the bills. His 1895 folio Jeanne d’Arc inspired a series of commissions, including one from wealthy U.S. industrialist William A. Clark whose daughter Huguette was a close friend. In old age Huguette gained notoriety as a reclusive and eccentric heiress, known for dressing her dolls in designer clothes and leaving her mansions empty and untended.

He disliked the loose technique used in impressionism and especially disliked Gauguin and Manet whose Olympia he called 'wooden'.

Bathed every morning in cold water to maintain his vigor. Died of an exaggerated chest cold.