Benjamin-Constant, Jean-Joseph (French, 1845-1902)

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (1845 – 1902) was a 19th Century French painter and etcher, who is best known for his striking portraits of Oriental subjects.

Benjamin-Constant was born in Paris and studied at the l’École des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse, where he was a pupil of Alexandre Cabanel. He became greatly inspired by a journey taken to Morocco in 1872, which strongly influenced his early artistic development and led him to produce works that combined the Romantic style of painting with Oriental subject matter.

Benjamin-Constant was a favourite painter of the European aristocracy, particularly in England, where he was revered as a distinguished portrait painter. Among his most prestigious commissions, Benjamin-Constant painted Pope Leo XIII and Queen Alexandra of England.

Benjamin-Constant remains revered as one of the most talented painters of the 19th Century. Today, the artist’s works hang in a number of highly prestigious collections and galleries worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.