La Source

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes intended to become an engineer like his father, but an illness interrupted his studies. After his convalescence and a trip to Italy, he announced his intention to become an artist. He studied briefly with Eugène Delacroix, Henri Scheffer and then under Thomas Couture. He preferred to work alone, and took a studio and attended class at the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He made his Salon debut in 1850 and went on to become President and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. He is best known for his mural paintings and came to be known as 'the painter for France'. Usually characterized as a Symbolist, Puvis de Chavannes is credited with influencing an entire generation of painters and sculptors.

La Source was formally in the collection of the Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons Gordon Cameron Edwards (1866-1946). His fortune was made in the lumber business and La Source hung in his residence at 24 Sussex Drive, now the official residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, located in the New Edinburgh neighborhood of Ottawa, Ontario. It was built between 1866 and 1868 by Joseph Merrill Currier.