Original works of art

Born in Paris, Louis Lambert became interested in drawing as a young boy, when he studied at the Ecole de Dessin. Between 1842 and 1846, Lambert became serious about art and began to study with Eugène Delacroix and Paul Delaroche. He also copied the old masters at the Louvre, where he was very influenced by the Flemish School. At night, he studied at the Gobelin Academy, working after nature.

Between 1844 and 1852 he spent a great deal of his time at Nohant, where he was friendly with the realist author Georges Sand. Lambert debuted at the Salon in 1847 with a still life of birds. In 1854, he moved to the rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs in Paris, where he lived with other artists including Gerôme and Toulmouche, all working side-by-side, dedicated to their art. He became the draftsman for the “Journal d’agriculture practique” in the same year, and enjoyed brief sojourn in Barbizon.

Lambert’s great success at the Salon of 1857 with “Cat and Parakeet” decided his career; thereafter he garnered a world-wide reputation as a painter of cats and dogs, and was dubbed the “Raphael of Cats.” He received medals in 1865, 1870 and was presented with the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1874. In 1874, he painted Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild surrounded by his dogs. Lambert also produced imaginative illustrations for many books, among them the Fables of La Fontaine.