"On a voulu s'arrêter à cent sociétaires"

Autograph letter from painter Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret to painter Lucien Monod. The painter offers his apologies following the refusal to nominate two friends of painter Monod as associates of the newly created Société nationale des beaux-arts. One folded sheet.
Trained in the studios of Alexandre Cabanel and Jean-Léon Gérôme, Dagnan-Bouveret received the second Prix de Rome. Of naturalist inspiration, he devoted himself to religious painting and had a prolific career as a portraitist at the end of his life. He received prestigious commissions from the Countess of Béarn and the New York Frick family.
« [...] Neither Mr Burgers nor Jules Girardet could pass as Associates. They were both named associate members. We wanted to limit ourselves to one hundred associates for the moment. [...] »