Émile Mesnager (1880-1940) was a Breton painter born in Nantes, where he would work for the majority of his career. Mesnager predominantly produced still lives and nudes, using his mastery of these genres as a basis for the continual refinement of his technique. Drawing on both pointillist and divisionist brushwork, Mesnager sought to convey the most subtle gradations of light and texture on his canvases. In his closely cropped compositions, the artist became well-known for intimist vignettes of the gardens and sitting rooms of Belle-Epoch France. Through this style Mesnager became one of leading exponents of impressionist and post-impressionist technique as part of a loose group of artists extending these movements well into the twentieth century. In his later career, his artistic skill led to his involvement in major restoration projects, including the preservation of Eugène Fromentin’s famous works in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes in 1931.