A Pensive Moment

Collin was a friend and disciple of Bastien-Lepage and the two were known to work together closely. He studied under Bouguereau and Cabanel in Paris, and with their encouragement began exhibiting in the Salon in the mid-1870s. He was commissioned to do paintings for both the Odeon and the Htel de Ville and he was awarded the Grand Prix at both the Exposition Universelle of 1889 and the Exposition Universelle d'Anvers of 1894. The present picture was painted at the peak of his career, just three years after his election as an officer of the Legion of Honor for which he was named a full member of the Institute in 1909.