Leberecht Lortet

Leberecht Lortet (or Lortel) was a French landscape painter who was born on April 30, 1828 to French parents in Heidelberg (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). He lived most of his life in Lyon (from 1848 to 1861) and the surrounding area and died on November 6, 1901 in Oullins, Rhône, France.

A pupil of Alexandre Calame in Geneva, Lortet exhibited at the Lyon Salon from 1858 and then took part in the Paris Salon from 1859 to 1870. Like Gabriel Loppé, he specialized in mountain landscapes and found a large clientele among the English, who were discovering the new sport of mountaineering at the time. This prolific artist dedicated his life to painting the mountains: snow-capped peaks, green meadows surrounded by fir trees and shady lakes. His nickname was “the painter of the Alps”. His paintings can be seen today in museums in Lyon, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Geneva and Bern, as well as in numerous private collections.