He is known as "Le Poète Parisien de la Peinture" or "the Parisian Poet of Painting" because of his diverse Paris cityscapes in a variety of weather and night settings.

Although Cortès was a pacifist, when war came close to his native village he was compelled to enlist in a French Infantry Regiment at the age of 32.

Once, in responding to a journalist who asked if he was a student of Luigi Loir, he replied in pun: "Non, seul élève de moi-même."

[2] On November 30, 2000, four paintings by Cortès were recovered in Kalispell, Montana, following an eight-month investigation conducted by the FBI's San Francisco Division.

[3] In 2008, a lost Cortès painting of a Paris street scene was discovered amongst donated items at a Goodwill Industries thrift store in Easton, Maryland.