Cernay-la-Ville was at the end of the 19th century a favorite place for studies on the motif. It brought together a colony of artists (painters, poets, writers, ...) who regularly met in the inns of the village.
In 1881 there were 7, of which 4 on this square: le Grand Courrier, l'Hôtel des Paysagistes, Au Rendez-vous des Artistes et l'Hôtel de l'Avenir.

1

This inn, run by Isodore Legendre since 1841, is take over by Alexandre Cibeau in 1857 under the name of "Le Grand Courrier"

2

This wine merchant of 1836, becomes an Inn in 1872 under the name of l'Hôtel des Paysagistes.

4

This inn, called "l'Avenir” in 1881, was originally located next to the blacksmith.

3

This inn, privileged place of the painters, called "Au rendez-vous des Artistes chez Léopold” disappears in 1967.

“Le déjeuner des artistes à Cernay-la-Ville” at Leopold's "Rendez-vous des Artistes"
(oil on wood 53 cm x 95 cm).
On this painting 13 characters are represented of which 10 seated. We can recognize Pelouse standing (wearing his beret) standing out in the window frame; some women, certainly his own (in the center of the table). Kroyer, shown in the foreground on the left, was painted in this painting by Flavien Louis Peslin.  

Léon Germain Pelouse, a mid-nineteenth century landscape painter, was recently overshadowed by his Barbizon contemporaries despite his popularity at the time and the execution of several remarkable works. His compositions show an interest in France's natural landscape, the same interest as those of the Barbizon painters. An enthusiastic writer ("Art and the Paris Exposition", Scribner's Monthly, December 1878, p 277) wrote, "His style is impressive, his pictures rich and daring in color, the execution marked by the greatest breadth and freedom of handling. ". Despite never undertaking any formal artistic training, Pelouse established himself as an artist inspired by the beauty of nature.

Born in 1838 in Pierrelaye (Val d'Oise) near Paris and son of a carpenter, Pelouse didn't seem destined to become a painter. Rather than starting a career as an artist, he began working at the age of sixteen as a traveling sales representative in Roubaix. This work allowed Pelouse to discover the different landscapes and villages of France. He continued this work for a long time and also served briefly in the army before starting his artistic activities. During his stay in the army, he executed his first painting in his quarters, after his colonel had given him permission to do so.

At the age of 27, he left his first job to pursue a career as a painter. His determination to become an artist was so strong that he convinced his family to let him practice the career of his choice. But instead of immediately entering a school of fine arts like other artists in search of public recognition, Pelouse never studied under any teacher and became his own master, a remarkable fact. Eugène Montrosier, in Les Artistes Modernes: Peintres de Genre (Paris: Libraire Ch. Tallandier, p. 101) , thought that he did indeed have a master and wrote:

"One could write more about M. Pelouse who, without a master, by the sole force of his determination, arrived after a few years to take one of the top places among modern landscape painters. To suggest that Mr. Pelouse did not have a master may not be correct. He did have one, sincere, profound, always varied, always moving: nature! ".

For Pelouse, nature may have been the most important influence on his work. He expressed regret that at the beginning of his career he did not know many other landscapists. He said, "The unfortunate thing for me…at the time when I was beginning, was that, having not worked in any atelier, I didn’t know any painter. I was even ignorant that landscape painters could cherish certain landscapes over others. "(Montrosier, p.102).
He quickly learned of the small village of Cernay-la-Ville and settled there in 1870 only to be driven out three months later by the invasion of the Prussians. The story goes that the Prussians ransacked the majority of residents' homes, with the exception of Pelouse's, whose home and studio were so wonderful that they could not bring themselves to destroy what they found inside. Once the Prussians retreated, Pelouse returned to Cernay-la-Ville and devoted himself entirely to his work. He lived there at No. 49 Grand'Place with his wife Lucie Alexandrine Fossett and his adopted son Lucien Raingo Pelouse.
Pelouse's relocation to Cernay-la-Ville signals his further association with the other great landscape painters of the time who, while working in other regions, including Barbizon in the forest of Fontainebleau, displayed the same interest in the natural rendering of details in a landscape. During this period, the imaginary landscapes portrayed in historical or mythological scenes were considered the most refined form and so much appreciated by the jurors of the Salon. With the arrival of the railroad and the tube of paint, these artists turned away from the classical style landscape imagined in the workshops in order to paint outside and sought out the landscape of France that they could see and experience and portrayed it as such. Although Pelouse had never had a master himself, he inspired and attracted many students to Cernay-la-Ville seeking his advice.

By following nature as a guide, Pelouse also kept abreast of the progress of other artists working outdoors while developing its own style and dark palette. He debuted at the 1865 Salon with Environs de Precy - Oise, a souvenir of autumn. His two subsequent appearances at the show (1868 and 1869) were works inspired by the landscapes of Brittany region, particularly Pont-Aven, where he spent time working and gathering ideas. In 1873, he won his first medal, a second class prize, for the Vallée de Cernay. In 1876, he received a first class medal, "a reward that had not been awarded to a landscape painter for thirty years" (Montrosier, p.102) for Une coupe de bois à Senlisse - Seine-et-Oise and a second class medal at the 1878 Expositon Universelle where he exhibited several works. That same year, he also received the highest French distinction when he was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.

Pelouse’s final Salon showing was in 1890 where he exhibited Bords de Seine; l’Ile de Tribouillard (Banks of the Seine; the Tribouillard Island) and La Seine, à Poses; vue du barrage(The Seine, at Poses, view of the dam).  The previous year he had exhibited at the 1889 Exposition Universelle where he earned a gold medal. 

By the end of his career, his style of landscape painting had been sufficiently accepted by the Salon juries, and in addition to his awards, he himself became a member of the jury seven times. While during the latter part of his career the Impressionists began to experiment with their own style of landscape painting, Peouse didn't follow this movement but instead remained in the tradition of the older Barbizon school .
He died on July 31, 1891 in Cernay-la-Ville. There is little doubt that his work has helped to maintain the importance of the landscape painters tradition.

He counted many friends among his peers who joined him in Cernay-la-Ville such as Henri Harpigny, Louis Français, Jules et Emile Breton, Ceramano, Winslow Homer, Theodore Robinson, Peder Severin Kroyer and many others.
Many museums in France and abroad show his works (Musée d'Orsay in Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Bordeaux Museum of Fine Arts, Roger-Quilliot Museum of Art in Clermont-Ferrand, Museum of modern art André-Malraux in Le Havre, Nantes Museum of Fine Arts, ...).
Some of his students:
Ernest Baillet, Léon Joubert, Flavien Peslin, Emile Le Marié des Landelles, Louis Telingue, Nicolas Dracopolis, Charles Emile Dameron, Kitty L Kielland, Harriet Backer, Annaly, Albert Rigolot, Edouard Gendrot, ...
In 1897 his friends and students raised a monument to his memory in the Vaux de Cernay.

Sources and other links:

• Léon Germain Pelouse - Wikipédia (in French)
• Biography - Rehs Galleries, New York
• Léon Germain Pelouse, le chef de file de la colonie - Rambouillet Territoires (in French)
• Léon Germain Pelouse - Association des Peintres En Vallée de Chevreuse (in French)
• Monument à Léon Germain Pelouse - e-monument.net (in French)