Autograph letter signed ("F. Cormon").

Small-8vo. 1p. on bifolium. Interesting letter, probably to the academic painter and art critic Charles-Olivier Merson, concerning the purchase of one of Cormon's battle paintings by the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux. The painting had previously been exhibited during the Exposition de Bordeaux that was curated by Merson and apparently been selected for an official purchase. Fernand Cormon informs Merson of minor yellowing but hopes that exposure to the "sun of Southern France [Midi]" will return the painting to "its natural tone" and expects the art packers any day: "Je suis très content que vous vous rappelez ma bataille et que cet envoi vous plaira. Je serais enchanté qu'il reste à Bordeaux. Je vous préviens que le tableau, retourné depuis longtemps, a un peu jauni, mais exposé à l'air et au soleil du midi il reviendra rapidement à son ton naturel. J'entends toujours l'emballeur. Je pense n'est-ce-pas qu'il fera prendre la toile demain. [.]". - In a short postscript, he announces the completion of a portrait of Merson's son Louis-Olivier, although he wasn't satisfied with the result: "J'ai fait ce temps-ci une petite tête de votre fils. Malheureusement je n'en suis pas bien satisfait. Il est assez ressemblant, voilà tout". - Today, Fernand Cormon is best known for some of the students of his private art school Atelier Cormon, that is to say, some of the students who did not succeed in exhibiting their paintings at the Paris Salon, which was the explicit goal of Cormon's teaching. These include Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Louis Anquetin, Émile Bernard, and Vincent van Gogh. - On stationery with printed letterhead.