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{{Short description|French painter (1837–1883)}}
{{Expand German|topic=culture|date=January 2015|Pierre Auguste Cot }}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2010}}

{{Infobox artist
| name         = Pierre Auguste Cot
| image        = Bedarieux Monument de Pierre Auguste Cot par Antonin Mercié 1891.jpg
| caption      = A bust of Cot at Pierre Auguste Cot Memorial, [[Bédarieux]]
| birth_name   = Pierre Auguste Cot
| birth_date   = {{birth date|df=yes|1837|02|17}}
| birth_place  = [[Bédarieux]], [[Hérault]], France
| death_date   = {{death date and age|df=yes|1883|8|2|1837|02|17}}
| death_place  = [[Paris]], France
| resting_place= [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
| nationality  = French
| field        = Painting
| movement     = [[Academic Classicism]]
| works        = ''[[Springtime (Pierre Auguste Cot)|Springtime]]'' (1873)<br />''[[The Storm (Cot)|The Storm]]'' (1880)
| patrons      =
| awards       = Chevalier of the [[Legion of Honour]]
}}
'''Pierre Auguste Cot''' ({{IPA|fr|pjɛʁ o.ɡyst kɔt|}};<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Pierre-Auguste Cot's "The Storm"|author=Rubin, James Henry|year=1979|journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal|volume=14|pages=191–200|doi=10.2307/1512746|jstor=1512746|s2cid=193079291}}</ref> 17 February 1837 – 2 August 1883) was a French painter of the [[Academic Classicism]] school.

==Life and career==
[[File:William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Gabrielle Cot - Sotheby's.jpg|thumb|185px|[[William Adolphe Bouguereau|Bouguereau's]] ''[[Gabrielle Cot]]'', a portrait of Cot's daughter]]
Cot was born in [[Bédarieux]], [[Hérault]], and initially studied at l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in [[Toulouse]] before going to Paris. He studied under [[Leon Cogniet]], [[Alexandre Cabanel]] and [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]]. In 1863 he made a successful debut at the [[Salon (Paris)|Salon]], and from the 1870s, his popularity grew quickly.

Cot enjoyed the patronage of the academic sculptor [[Francisque Joseph Duret|Francisque Duret]], whose daughter he married, and of Bouguereau, with whom he had also worked. Bouguereau painted a portrait of Cot's daughter, Gabrielle. Bouguereau had dined with the Cot family to celebrate Gabrielle's marriage to an architect named Zilin. The artist made a gift of the painting to the wife of Duret, Gabrielle's grandmother.<ref>[[Sotheby's]] catalogue [http://www.sothebys.com/en/catalogues/ecatalogue.html/2011/19th-century-european-art-n08783#/r=/en/ecat.fhtml.N08783.html+r.m=/en/ecat.lot.N08783.html/43/+r.o=/en/ecat.notes.N08783.html/43/ notes and provenance.] The portrait has been known variously as ''Tête de jeune fille'' ("Head of a Young Girl"), ''Portrait of Gabrielle Drienza'', ''Portrait de Madame Z'', and ''Head of [Mme] Ailin, Gabrielle Cot''.</ref>

Cot won various prizes and medals, and in 1874 was made Chevalier of the [[Legion of Honour]].

He died in Paris at the age of 46. He is buried at the [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

==Works==
[[File:1880 Pierre Auguste Cot - The Storm.jpg|thumb|''[[The Storm (Cot)|The Storm]]'' (1880)]]
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2022}}
He created several works of lasting popularity, including ''[[Springtime (Pierre Auguste Cot)| Springtime]],'' featuring two young lovers sitting upon a swing, and ''[[The Storm (Cot)|The Storm]].'' Both these paintings are on display at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in [[New York City]]; ''The Storm'' belongs to the museum while ''Le Printemps'' is owned privately.

Cot also was renowned for his [[portrait]]s, which made up the majority of his work.  The more enduring figurative work, such as ''[[The Storm (Cot)|The Storm]],'' is comparatively rare. Shortly after his death at the age of forty-six (2 August 1883), a subscription was undertaken for a commemorative monument to the artist, which was erected at Bédarieux in 1892.

===Selected works===
{{cols}}
* ''[[Dionysia]]'' (1870), [[Chi-Mei Museum]], [[Taiwan]]
* ''Ophelia'' (1870)
* ''The Gypsy'' or ''La Bohémienne'' (1871)
* ''[[Springtime (Pierre Auguste Cot)|Springtime]]'' or ''Le Printemps'' (1873), [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], [[New York City]]
* ''[[The Storm (Cot)|The Storm]]'' or ''L'Orage'' (1880), Metropolitan Museum of Art<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/sara/ho_87.15.134.htm |title=Metropolitan Museum of Art - Pierre-Auguste Cot: The Storm (87.15.134) |publisher=Metmuseum.org |date=2012-07-27 |accessdate=2012-08-18}}</ref>
* ''The Reading Light'' or ''La Liseuse'' (about 1880)
* ''Portrait of Madame Mas'' (1882)
* ''Mireille'' (1882), [[Musée Fabre]], [[Montpellier]]
* ''Charity for My Sister'', [[Wolverhampton Art Gallery]]
{{colend}}

==Students==
*[[Ellen Day Hale]] (1855–1940)
*[[Anna Elizabeth Klumpke]] (1856–1942)

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="220">
Image:Ophelia (Pierre Auguste Cot).jpg|''Ophelia'', 1870
File:Pierre Auguste Cot - Girl with Basket of Oranges and Lemons.jpg|''Girl with Basket of Oranges and Lemons'', 1871
Image:PIERRE-AUGUSTE COT - Primavera (Museo Metropolitano de Nueva York, 1873. Óleo sobre lienzo, 213.4 x 127 cm).jpg|''[[Springtime (Pierre Auguste Cot)|Springtime]]'', 1873 
File:Pierre Auguste Cot - Mireille faisant l'aumône à la sortie de Saint-Trophime (1882).jpg|''Mireille Giving Alms at [[Church of St. Trophime, Arles|Saint-Trophime]]'', 1882
File:Pierre Auguste Cot - Sainte Elisabeth de Hongrie soignant 01.jpg|''[[Saint Elizabeth of Hungary]] Curing the Sick'', 1883
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Pierre Auguste Cot}}

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cot, Pierre Auguste}}
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1883 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Bédarieux]]
[[Category:19th-century French painters]]
[[Category:French male painters]]
[[Category:Academic art]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Académie Julian]]
[[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century French male artists]]