Paul Druard was born in 1868 near the town of Bresse close to the Swiss border north of the city of Lyon. Druard worked as a photographer and painter and exhibited in Lyon before having his work accepted by the Paris Salon in 1889 and then exhibiting there. He died in 1908 of an unknown illness meaning his artistic output was highly limited. An exhibition of photographs by Paul Druard and Albert Gibaud was held in 2014  at Le Château de Pierre-de-Bresse which was owned by Gibaud's family.  Interestingly in that exhibition was a photograph of the subject of the painting we currently have in stock. Druards work is very rare with only 3 other known examples existing today.