Although relatively little known today Count Albert de Belleroche (1864-1944) was a much admired artist during the Belle Époche.

A student of Carolus Duran and life long friend of John Singer Sargent, Albert de Belleroche exhibited alongside the Impressionists whom he counted amongst his friends and acquaintances. Edgar Degas and Auguste Renoir both admired Albert de Belleroche and owned work by him.

Albert de Belleroche was an exact contemporary of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec; they painted each others portraits at the age of eighteen.

Making his debut at the Paris Salon in 1887, Albert de Belleroche began to exhibit with the Société des Artistes Français in 1891 and in 1903, along with luminaries such as Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Georges Rouault he became was a founding member of the Salon d’Automne.

In 1904 an entire room was devoted to Albert de Belleroche at the Salon d’Automne – an honour accorded to five other artists: Paul Cezanne, Puvis de Chavannes, Odilon Redon, Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.