Leon Augustin L Hermitte Biography

 L Hermitte was French Realist draftsman, printmaker, painter, and illustrator, born on 31 July 1844.
— L Hermitte was the only son of a village schoolmaster and his precocious drawing skill won him an annual grant from the state.
In 1863 L Hermitte went to Paris and became a student at the Petite Ecole, where one of his teachers was Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran, famed for his method of training the visual memory. Jean-Charles Cazin, a fellow student, became a lifelong friend and Lhermitte later got to know Alphonse Legros, Henri Fantin-Latour, Jules Dalou and Rodin, who had all studied at the school.
In 1864 his charcoal drawing the Banks of the Marne near Alfort (untraced) was exhibited at the Salon. By inclination and by training a meticulous draftsman, L Hermitte continued to exhibit his drawings at the Salon until 1889.
L hermitte  died on 27 July 1925.