Pelez was born in Paris. His father, Fernand Pelez de Cordova (1820–1899), was a Parisian painter as well, and was one of his teachers. Pelez was a commercial failure in the 1880s and, after the failure of his ''L'Humanité'' at the Salon of 1896, Pelez became something of a recluse, refusing to exhibit or sell his work. A major exhibition of his work was mounted in Paris at the
Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, from 24 September 2009 to 17 January 2010. == Works ==