Worth A Thousand Words: Cover Art by Rene Princeteau

When I was searching for cover inspiration for the Legacy Vintage Collection edition of The Brushwood Boy, I found and fell in love with the painting appearing on the final cover, Scene De Chasse a Cour, and when I did a little research on the artist I fell in love even more. I adore nineteenth-century French paintings and I'm pretty familiar with the major artists of the time period, but I had never heard of Rene Princeteau before. After learning more about his inspiring life and viewing more of his fantastic works, I knew I wanted his painting on the cover, and I knew I wanted to share his story.

Pierre Charles Marie Princeteau (called Rene) was born deaf and mute in 1843. But he was born into a wealthy French wine-making family who hired tutors to teach him how to read and communicate. At an early age he discovered that sculpting and painting helped him express his emotions, and his work showed promise. His family encouraged him to study in Bordeaux and later at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1874 he opened his own studio in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, the stomping ground of many French artists, and a few years later he was hired by another wealthy family to instruct their son, who also coped with physical disabilities: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Rene Princeteau has been cited as a major influence on Toulouse-Lautrec's early career. Pictured left is Toulouse-Lautrec's 1881 painting of Rene in his studio, and below is Rene's 1883 painting of Toulouse-Lautrec.