François Jean Baptiste Benjamin CONSTANT known as BENJAMIN-CONSTANT (Paris, 1845 - 1902) The Lion King Oil on cardboard Signed with the initials 'B-C' lower right The Lion King, oil on carboard, signed, by B. Constant 8.47 x 13.78 27 x 35 cm Provenance: Probably sold after the artist's death (Catalogue of the Remaining Works of the Eminent Artist Benjamin Constant Which Comprise Finished Pictures, Portraits, Studies, Sketches and Designs), London, Christie's, Manson & Woods, 19 July 1902, no. 84 ("The King of the Desert"); Galerie Hubert Duchemin, in 2022 Described by Zola as a "pupil of Cabanel tormented by the great shadow of Delacroix", Benjamin Constant belonged to that generation of artists whose ambition was mainly to try to shake up an Academy in need of pictorial change, by reinfusing it with a little of the romantic ardour of the great masters of the early XIXᵉ century. Particularly attracted by the Orientalist turn taken by many of the painters of the time, Benjamin Constant rushed with talent into this new aesthetic Eldorado offered by the landscapes and atmospheres of North Africa. Although the geographical influence is clear in our painting, technically it is more of a curiosity in the artist's palette. The brushstrokes are lively, powerful, almost sculptural, and the chromatic range is very assertive. The subject, also inspired by the famous compositions of Jean-Léon Gérôme, resonates particularly with our contemporary imaginations, lulled by images of the legendary Disney cartoon of the same name.