Constant Mayer

Love's Melancholy, 1866, at The Art Institute of Chicago

Constant Mayer (October 3, 1829 – May 12, 1911) was a French painter who emigrated to the United States.

Mayer was born in Besançon, France. He studied in Paris in the École des Beaux-Arts and under Léon Cogniet, and followed his profession in that city until 1857, when he moved to New York City. In 1869, he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor. He was elected an associate of the National Academy in 1866, and he was also a member of the American Art Union.

Works

Mayer is best known by his life-sized genre pictures. He contributed frequently to the Paris Salon. His works include portraits of General Grant and General Sherman. Other works are:

• “Beggar-Girl” (1863)
• “Consolation” (1864)
• “Recognition” (1865)
• “Good Words” (1866)
• “Riches and Poverty”
• “Maud Muller”
• “Street Melodies” (1867)
• “Early Grief” (1869)
• “Oracle of the Field”
• “Song of the Shirt” (1875)
• “Song of the Twilight” (1879)
• “In the Woods” (1880)
• “The Vagabonds” (1881)
• “Lord's Day” (1883)
• “Lawn Tennis” (1883)
• “Mandolin Player” (1884)
• “First Grief” (1885)
• “The First Communion” (1886)

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Mayer, Constant" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.