Léon Comerre studied in Lille under Colas, and in Paris under Cabanel at the École des Beaux-Arts. He was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome in 1875 and various other awards, including a bronze at the 1875 Paris Salon and a silver in 1881, together with an honorary medal at the Exposition Universelle in Antwerp in 1885. He was elevated to the rank of Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur.

Comerre's best-known work includes Etoile, Dancer; Portrait of Mademoiselle F. in Japanese Dress; Clown; Duflos in the Role of Don Carlos; Portrait of Madame Théo; Samson and Delilah; and Silenus and the Bacchantes.

Comerre also provided decorative compositions for the fourth arrondissement Mairie in Paris and for the gala room in the Rhône prefecture building.

Museum and Gallery Holdings

Béziers: Dancer

Caen: Death of Albinus

Lille: Death of Timophan

Marseilles: Silenus and the Bacchantes

Paris (Foyer of the Odéon): Phaedra and Celimina

Sydney: Bird for the Cat (terracotta)