A native of Poitiers, Léon-Jean Basile Perrault studied with two major figurative painters, Francois-Edouard Picot, and William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Perrault developed a meticulous style and a specialty in depicting children, especially girls and young women, with a degree of Victorian sentimentality. This combination of subject matter and technique brought him great success at the Paris Salons of 1861, 1864, 1876, and 1878. This drawing of a sleeping girl is a characteristic example of Perrault's tender depictions and recalls his painting of a resting Italian girl, Bettina, made famous in the 1870s through the art dealer Goupil's publication of photograph albums reproducing the artist's paintings.
Costantino, Arturo G., former owner.
Fioratti, Helen Costantino, former owner.
L'Antiquaire & The Connoisseur, The Aesthetic Pursuit: Form, Figure, Fantasy and the Pastoral Idea, New York, 1998, no. 77.