Complex sentence: Aspiring to become a painter, he tried but failed to win the prestigious Prix de Rome, and shortly afterwards returned to Cambodia, where he met and befriended a number of French scholars of traditional Cambodian culture.
Split into simpler sentences: Aspiring to become a painter, he tried but failed to win the prestigious Prix de Rome. Shortly afterwards, he returned to Cambodia, where he met and befriended a number of French scholars of traditional Cambodian culture.