By Léonce Bénédite.
Translated into English by Edgar Preston
WOMAN in Art is a fruitful subject. It is both psychological and
æsthetic, involving as it does a question of paramount interest. At
the same time it includes a special up-to-date character, by virtue of
the grave questions arising from the position of woman in our social
system of to-day. It is, indeed, the position of woman which has for
so long a period set limits to her production of creations of the
mind, and her position has had a distinct bearing on her inspiration.
Thus it will be grasped, in these times of ours when the movement for
the total emancipation of woman has commenced, and when the first
franchises granted to her have already borne conclusive results, how
it is that our honoured colleague, the editor of this book, has been
led, both as an artist and as a writer on art, to conduct a sort of
historical examination enabling one to understand the position woman
has won in the realms of art in the past, and permitting one to
foresee the place she is called upon to occupy in the future.
With regard to the productions of the mind, it becomes necessary to
establish a well-defined distinction, at least in so far as the past,
anterior to the 19th century, is concerned, between the position of
women artists and that of literary women. The literary woman, like the
man of letters, was not subjected to any special obligation beyond the
official sanction granting her the privilege of publication—a
sanction which bore only on the question of morals and religion. Every
woman was free to write without let or hindrance, without any
preliminary education, and even without going through the formalities
of publication or the necessities of printing, since a famous woman
like Madame de Sévigné owed her celebrity to letters which were not
destined to be made public. This explains the number of charming
writers among women who have added lustre to French literature by
their novels, stories, or simply by their letters, and enables one to
realise how these women authors are, in contradistinction to women
artists, persons of high standing. The chronicles of the Hôtel de
Rambouillet constitute an interesting little chapter in the history of
letters in France, just as the "Précieuses Ridicules" or the "Femmes
Savantes" of Molière reveal to us the defects and eccentricities into
which the literary pretensions of the feminine world had fallen in the
17th century. It cannot, however, be denied that the fair sex freely
infused into the literature of that period spontaneity, life and
spirit, piquancy, affectation, and the delicate sentiments inherent to
its nature, and that it had its share of influence on French taste at
that time.
Altogether different is the position of their sisters, the
women-painters. Let us first look into that of the men. Painters
formerly were part of a Guild such as that of the Drapers, Bakers and
Butchers, and in their case it was a Guild which was far from
occupying the first place in the hierarchy of Guilds. The Butchers
were beyond doubt higher up in the scale than the painters. The
painters were subjected to narrow and despotic regulations; rigorous
conditions governed both apprenticeship and mastership, conditions
hardly encouraging to those who had a vocation, more especially in the
case of women, ill-protected by the weakness of their sex, by
prevalent custom, and ill-adapted for the struggle. The régime of
the Académies, which followed that of the Guilds, did not bring in its
wake conditions in any degree profitable to womankind. The Académie de
Saint-Luc, while pretending to safeguard the professional interests of
artists, displayed such tyrannical pretensions that a certain number
of artists rose in revolt against it, and appealed to the Royal power,
which, approached by its chief painter, Charles Le Brun, came to their
rescue, by helping them to found the celebrated Académie Royale de
Peinture et de Sculpture (1666). The Académie Royale proved itself
somewhat more liberal. It set no limits to the reception of those who
seemed worthy of its suffrages; we know that it welcomed into its
bosom a number of strangers of merit, and that it opened its doors to
women. Therein lies a victory of appreciable importance, if one
considers the energy and the talent which women artists were compelled
to display, in order to conquer ancient prejudices in so signal a
fashion. Henceforth a place was assigned in art to women, a place
still hedged in with limitations, and which could be attained only by
the few privileged ones. For, in its turn, the Académie served the
purpose of a few, but not that of the many. The Académie reserved the
monopoly of exhibitions exclusively for its members; and artists who
did not, in one way or other, belong to this congregation, were
allowed to exhibit their works in public only once a year. It was on
the one day of the Octave of Corpus Christi, for a space of two hours,
in the open air, and within the circumference of the Place Dauphine.
All great artists had to submit to this treatment, ere they could
force the portals of the Académie. But times have changed! Our
contemporaries, so inconstant, so impatient, who wear out the
attention of the public by the excessive multiplicity of their
exhibitory manifestations, should occasionally think of the conditions
under which their forerunners laboured.
Imagine a woman placed in the midst of these quarrels and struggles of
rival Academies, with men in strong and often fierce antagonism on all
sides of her; picture not only these general difficulties, but those
of a more particular sort which arise from the disabilities of her
sex, her subordinate state; think of the drawbacks—the prejudices,
the convenances to be considered, and then the embarrassing
promiscuity of life in studio and school, particularly as regards the
study from the living model—and one can realise how brave, how
energetic, or how ambitious must be the woman who would win the title
of Artist.
It is clear that the Royal Academy's liberal measure in opening its
doors to women of talent was an event of some importance, from the
moral point of view at any rate. It was the public recognition of
woman's capacity in matters of art, the official consecration of merit
which might come to light; also it afforded a goal to strive for—a
goal hard to reach and very remote, doubtless, but still a goal
possible of attainment to the most courageous and the most hopeful
among women. The real, as distinct from the moral, advantages were,
however, rather limited. From 1663, the date which marks the admission
of the first woman artist, to 1783, when the last was admitted—that
is to say during a period of eighty years—exactly fifteen women
painters were elected, and among them were three foreigners. In 1770,
indeed, on the nomination of Mlle. Giroust, wife of Roslin, the
painter, it was decided that, as there were already in the company two
other women previously elected, there must not be more than four women
in all within the Academy. This measure of restriction was renewed in
1783 and ratified by Royal ordinance on the election of Mme. Vigée Le
Brun.
Nevertheless there was an appreciable number of women artists in
France throughout the course of the 18th century. Their social rank
was strictly confined. There were no "women of quality," such as were
to be found in the world of letters, no representatives of the
bourgeoisie even. The women artists, with very rare exceptions, all
belonged to artist families. They were the wives, the daughters, the
sisters or the nieces of artists, and this tradition, as we shall see,
even continued long into the 19th century. Catherine Duchemin, the
first woman elected to the Academy, was the wife of the sculptor,
Girardon, while Geneviève and Madelaine Boulogne, both academicians,
were related to distinguished painters of that name. Mlle. Reboul was
Mme. Vien, and Mme. Labille des Vertus became Mme. Vincent on her
second marriage. Then we have Mlle. Natoire, sister of the director of
the Academy of France, Catherine van Loo, one of the innumerable
family of Van Loo, Mme. de Valsaureaux, née Parrocel, of the no less
numerous family of Parrocel, Mme. Therbouch, née Liscewska, all this
family, father, mother, and daughters alike, being painters; and Mme.
Vigée herself, who married the picture dealer Le Brun, was the
daughter of a portrait painter.
During the 17th and 18th centuries these great artist families
intermarried to such an extent as to form a series
of veritable
dynasties—for instance, those of the Coypels, the Coustous, the Van
Loos, the Boulognes, the Parrocels, and the Vernets, to name but a few
of the most renowned. Artist families became allied just as do those
of lawyers and merchants. Thus their social life grew more limited,
each category more and more distinct and apart, for these artist
families rarely strayed beyond their own milieu. And those very
circumstances which tended to retard the development of the artistic
calling in woman exerted their influence over the inspiration of the
female artist. The impossibility of pursuing very far the study of
anatomical drawing, owing to the nudity of the model, diverted them
almost entirely to the studies of observation and of imitation, to
portrait work, and flowers and animals and still-life. Later, when
they obtained greater liberty, they devoted themselves to genre of a
size and kind demanding less substantial preparation. But as for
composition, they never touched "history," as it was termed—that is,
lofty, heroic or allegorical subjects—and if there should chance to
have been any exception to this rule, it was simply in the direction
of religious motifs.
French School, about 1793-1824
PORTRAIT OF GAËTANO APOLLINO BALDASSARE VESTRIS,
DANCER (1729-1808).
REPRODUCED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH
BY PERMISSION OF BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.,
PARIS
Madame Adèle Romany, née de Romance, Painter
exhibited from 1793 to 1824
Further, they long affected what may be called medium processes:
pastel, water-colour, miniature, all kinds of work offering
opportunity of finish and éclat. They showed a partiality for oil
painting after the manner of the smaller Dutch masters, who had no
more faithful imitators in all France. Mme. Vien, Mme. de Valsaureaux,
née Parrocel, and particularly Mme. Vallayer Coster—"femme qui fut
un habile homme," according to the verses written in her
honour—excelled in this style.
Some of the "Académistes"—to use the old French expression—won
real celebrity, but few there were who achieved lasting glory. In the
reign of Louis XIV, the woman artist whose reputation shone with the
clearest lustre was Elisabeth Sophie Chéron, who excelled in all the
arts—for she was a clever painter, a consummate musician, a poet of
merit and femme d'esprit into the bargain. Following the general
rule she belonged to one of the numerous artist families. Daughter of
a painter (Louis Chéron), she was also sister of a painter. This
latter, who was her junior, had talent, but not to the extent of the
elder. Élisabeth Sophie Chéron was of Huguenot family, as was
frequently the case among the Academicians, although, from what absurd
prejudice I know not, the réformés were regarded as less artistic
than other folk. But in 1668,—she was twenty then—terrified no doubt
by the ever-increasing persecution of the Protestants—a persecution
which was soon to result in the Edict of Nantes—she, like her sister,
abjured her faith, whereas her brother, remaining true to the family
faith, was forced to take refuge in London, where he died.[1]
Sophie translated into French the Psalms of David, which her brother
illustrated admirably, and she has left at least one important
engraved work, but above all, she has left a number of portraits of
well-known people of her time, portraits that the sitters made her
copy four and even five times.
Among other "Académistes," interesting if not so well known, was
that sister of the "Visitandine" order, Anne Marie Trésor, who
decorated with religious subjects the church of the monastery of the
"Dames de Ste. Marie de Chaillot." She was received by the Academy in
1676, and the choice of the Academy showed, as its accepted members
were of such different views, that the body was after all somewhat
broad in character. Another proof of this liberal spirit is to be
found in the fact that the Academy received foreign artists within its
body. There were three of them; the first was Mlle. Haverman, of Dutch
origin, who was, however, excluded shortly after her election—she
attempted to justify her election by sending in a painting which was
not her own, but the work of her master, Van Huysum. The second
foreign "Académiste" was specially illustrious and worthy of the
honour conferred on her. She was Rosalba Carriera, a Venetian, a woman
who was really original, and whose reputation has lived through the
centuries, but about whom, in this chapter devoted to France, I must
not speak at length. The last of the three was Mme. Terbouche, or,
more exactly, Therbousch, who, although born in 1728 at Berlin, was
numbered by our old museum catalogues in the ranks of the French
School.
May 31st, 1783, was an exceptionally important date for the Academy,
in respect of women artists. On that day were received Mme. Vigée Le
Brun and Mme. Adélaïde Labille Guyard (or Guiard). One may say that at
that very hour began officially the rivalry which constantly existed
between the two women, both of real merit, throughout their careers—a
rivalry which has been maintained in the preference shown for one or
the other, after death, by their historians. Mme. Vigée Le Brun was
the more celebrated of the two, and rightly so, for one might say that
of all the women painters of her time she had a personality quite her
own, quite feminine, rich in grace, ease, variety of attitude, gesture
and composition, discreet and delicate affectedness, freshness and
brightness. Mme. Vigée Le Brun was the daughter of a somewhat mediocre
painter, and the wife of a well-known picture dealer, whom she married
when quite young. She had lessons from Doyen, Greuze and Joseph
Vernet, and her success was quickly achieved. Mlle. Adélaïde Labille
des Vertus, the daughter of a mercer, was married to a certain Guyard,
a neighbour. She did not live long with him, and had lessons from an
old friend, the painter Vincent (the father), and afterwards from La
Tour. While Mme. Le Brun, whose work was admired by Marie Antoinette,
was supported by the Court, Mme. Guyard secretly made friends in the
body of the Academy itself, painting the portraits of first one member
and then another. On the day of the election, she seemed to be
overcoming her rival, whom her friends succeeded in putting on one
side because the rules of the Academy forbade the traffic in pictures.
Mme. Le Brun was received only by order of the King. Her own
autobiography, as well as the pamphlets of the time, depict for us the
powerful rivalry which existed, and also the many calumnies with which
the three women painters were attacked (there was a third candidate,
Mme. Vallayer Coster), even in their private life, the persecution of
offensive insinuations, and the existence of the accusation so often
levelled against women painters, that their work is not their own.
Posterity has reconciled the rivals on the walls of our galleries. If
Mme. Vigée Le Brun certainly holds pride of place, Mme. Guyard, by her
more solid talent, perhaps more characteristic, has an enviable
position at her side.
By the side of these celebrated women there are a few others of whom
the recollection is not quite so keen, but who were not without a
touching grace, though they lived their life within the sphere of
their masters' influence, illuminated by the renown of these masters
and breathing their atmosphere. It would not be right to say that
these women artists copied their masters, or slavishly imitated them,
but they transposed their qualities, elevated them by feminising them.
Of these, I may mention Mlle. Ledoux, who followed in the wake of
Greuze; Mlle. Marguerite Gérard, who lived under the shadow of
Fragonard; and that exquisite and sorrowful figure, Mlle. Constance
Mayer, whose devotion for her master Prudhon found its supreme
expression in her tragic end. Less brilliant, rather hidden in the
twilight of history, these women yet exercise on our thoughts an
influence more subtle and delicate, and more penetrating.
The approach of the great national crisis, and even the worst days of
that period, at the same time glorious yet barbaric, did not
extinguish the zeal of the women painters. It seems rather as though
they shut themselves up in the study of their art so as to secure a
refuge for their hopes and their dreams. In the first "Salons" of the
century, one is surprised to find works by a comparatively large
number of women painters. In 1800, of 180 exhibitors they number 25;
eight years later, in the "Salon" of 1808, they are 46 out of 311. The
difficulties set up by the Academy were overcome, the liberty to
exhibit was a fresh encouragement, even an exceptional stimulus. The
figures, therefore, rise still further in the first quarter of the
century, so that in 1831 the women number 149 out of 873 exhibitors.
The "staff," so to speak, of the women artists of that day,
surrounding Mme. Vigée Le Brun, whose glorious and somewhat
chequered career did not close till 1842, included a number of
distinguished women, such as Mlle. Bevic and Mlle. Capet, pupils of
Mme. Guyard; Mme. Chaudet, the wife of the sculptor; Mlle. Eulalie
Morin; Mme. Adèle Romance, who also signed Romany, or Romany de
Romance; the "good" Mlle. Godefroid, pupil of Baron Gérard, who helped
him in so many of the portraits of contemporary cosmopolitan people of
distinction, commissions for which rained in the master's studio,
after the entry of the allied forces into Paris. Later on, we have
Mlle. Cogniet; Mme. Filleul; Mme. Rude, the wife of the great
sculptor, who had a severe yet confident talent. Lastly, there was the
woman artist who benefited by all the advantages of fashion, Mme.
Haudebourt-Lescot.
French School, 1755-1842
MADAME VIGÉE LE BRUN AND HER DAUGHTER.
AFTER THE PAINTING IN THE
LOUVRE,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Painter
1755-1842
Mlle. Lescot, wife of Haudebourt, the architect, and pupil of
Lethière—mischievous tongues, of course, declared that he painted her
pictures—was a strange creature, who, at the start, owed the
popularity she obtained as much to her personal charm as to her real
talent. Her first success was in the drawing-room, where people
admired her dances. "She was," says a writer, "ugly and captivating,
with crooked eyes and a charming expression, her mouth ill-shaped, but
tender and inviting," such as Ingres represented her in one of his
finest pencil drawings.
Hitherto, women had certainly banished themselves into the domain of
portrait or still-life painting, that is to say, they had done little
that was not sheer copying. But, little by little, under the influence
of the lesser Dutch masters, who had been passionately appreciated
since the close of the previous reign, and thanks to the opening of
the Royal Collections at the Luxembourg Palace, where they could be
studied and copied, the women-painters, following the example of the
masters who gained inspiration therefrom, began to devote themselves
to landscape and to genre. They sought out little touching subjects,
which very frequently bordered on the ridiculous. For example, "the
child's bed catches fire through the carelessness of the nurse who has
fallen asleep, and the dog attempts to waken her."
Mlle. Lescot cut herself adrift from all these insipidities. The
opportunity came for her to spend several years in Rome. She was
struck by the popular customs of the country, by its colour and that
singular and picturesque charm which Granet had been the first to
discover—the charm which, after her own time, was to be made further
known by the paintings of the well-known Léopold Robert. As a matter
of fact, she was practically the creator of the type of exotic
subjects borrowed from Italy, to which numerous artists in France
devoted themselves—Hébert, Bonnat and Jules Lefebvre, to name but a
few of the most important of them. In choosing her motifs she
displayed wit and inventiveness, and at times a delicate grace,
notably in her first pictures, before the desire to satisfy a daily
increasing connection had driven her into unduly hurried work. Her
technique, too, was brisk, yet careful, as it should be in small works
such as hers. Her lightly-touched lithographs, together with those
which she did "after" her own pictures, contributed to popularise her
special subjects and her name.
The novelty of these paintings, devoted to the cult of "local colour,"
caused them to be adopted as "romantic." It was the same with Schnetz
and Léopold Robert, who shared the popularity. But the real "Young
romantic" among artists was Mlle. de Fauveau. What one discovers with
regard to her is that she is not a painter but a sculptor. The Royal
Academy of the 17th century had already boasted certain wood carvings
by la demoiselle Massé. Also, there was Mme. Falconet. But the great
and austere art was cultivated only as a rare exception by woman.
Mlle. Félicie de Fauveau was the first pre-Raphaelite, although the
return to the primitive Italian masters of the 16th century dates
further back, but with cropped head under a velvet toque, after the
style of Raphael himself, she unceasingly uttered curses against that
noble personality, whose brush produced the highest incarnation of the
art of painting.
But the naturalist movement it was that witnessed the development of
the greatest artistic personality in the feminine world of
to-day—Rosa Bonheur. The rôle played by Rosa Bonheur is important
from the feminine point of view, for the reason that she broke away
from ancient traditions. She revealed what woman was capable of in the
matter of energy, of continuity of purpose, of method, of scientific
direction, in a word, in the indispensable impetus of inspiration.
Before her day, the woman-painter had always been looked upon rather
as a phenomenon, or her place in the domain of art was conceded to her
on the grounds that she was indulging in an elevating and tasteful
pastime, coming under the category of "accomplishments." Rosa Bonheur
gave to woman a position equal to that of man. She won for herself
unanimous admiration, based, not on the singularity of her life, not
on looseness of morals, not on social triumphs, not on friends at
Court, but on her robust, virile, observant and well-considered
talent, which in its turn was based on a primary study of anatomy and
osteology, developed by a continuous observation of the constitution
and the life of the animal world. Her long life was crowned with
glory. She held an exceptional place in art, akin to that of George
Sand in the world of letters.
From that day forth, there appeared a new phase in the artistic life
of woman. Art became for her, not merely an intellectual pastime, but
a vocation and a career. Rosa Bonheur lived nearly to the close of the
nineteenth century, seeing many revolutions both in French life and in
French art, but remaining always quite true to herself. Perhaps the
most uncertain period of all, historically, so far as women were
concerned, was that period of wave-like fluctuation in French art that
occurred in the seventies and eighties, reflecting itself in the work
of such women painters as Angèle Dubos, Jeanne Fichel, Marie Petiet,
Laure de Chatillon, Félicie Schneider, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Nicolas,
and Rosa Bonheur's successor—her heiress, so to speak—Madame
Virginie Demont-Breton, the daughter, wife and niece of a family of
distinguished artists. She has achieved a well-deserved popularity
with her subjects of popular and rustic life, and, like Rosa Bonheur,
has attained the rank of officer of the Legion of Honour. Two other
feminine personalities have attracted the attention of both public
and artists, the one, the sister-in-law of Manet, the delightful
Mademoiselle Morisot, who has, so to speak, improved on the refinement
of her master; the other, that strange and alluring young Russian
girl, who adopted France as her Fatherland, and whom France adopted as
artist. Marie Bashkirtseff, struck down by a cruel and premature
death, at the age of twenty-three, revealed something far more than
mere happy gifts. One is surprised at the amount of studies produced
by the unfortunate and beautiful creature in the short space allotted
to her for her life-work.
We now enter upon the present period of woman's artistic life, the
active period, let us call it. We no longer trouble about her place at
our exhibitions, since she has nowadays her own exhibition, or rather
exhibitions proper to herself. Among the many youthful amateurs who
constitute the bulk of feminine artists, one finds a number of true
artists. To name a few: Mademoiselle Louise Abbéma, Madame Madeleine
Lemaire, Madame Nanny Adam, Mlle. Fiérard, Mme. Vallet-Bisson, Madame
Chatrousse, Madame Darmesteter, Mme. Delacroix-Garnier, Mme.
Baury-Saurel, and many others, as this book proves.
Several women-artists have won their place in the National Museum,
wherein first rank is held, after Rosa Bonheur and Mme. Demont-Breton,
by Madame Marie Cazin, painter and sculptor, Madame Victoria Dubourg
(widow of Fantin-Latour), Mlle. Dufau, who has just been commissioned
to execute some important decorations for the Sorbonne, Mlle.
Delasalle, Mlle. Marie Gautier, Señora Eva Gonzalès, and a couple of
semi-naturalised foreigners, Miss Mary Cassatt, an American, and Mlle.
Breslau, a Swiss—both dames of the Legion of Honour.
To conclude, women are proving just now not only that the domain of
art should be open to them as freely as it is to men, on the grounds
of right and reason, but also that they are specially gifted by their
delicate sensitiveness, their quickness of comprehension, their
initiative faculty, and lastly, by all the phases of their natural
temperament, and by their intelligence to endow art with the elements
of expression and beauty proper to womankind.
LÉONCE BÉNÉDITE.
French School, 1768-1826
PORTRAIT OF MARIE PAULINE, PRINCESSE BORGHESE.
AFTER THE PAINTING AT
VERSAILLES,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Madame Marie Guilhelmine Benoits, Painter
1768-1826
French School, XVII and XVIII Centuries
PORTRAIT OF MADAME VICTOIRE DE FRANCE.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING AT
VERSAILLES,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN CLEMENT AND CO., PARIS
Madame Guyard, née Labille des Vertus, Painter
1749-1803
PORTRAIT OF MARIE DE RABUTIN-CHANTAL,
MARQUISE DE SÉVIGNÉ (1626-1696)
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING AT VERSAILLES,
FROM A COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH
BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Mademoiselle de Vanteuil, Painter
17th Century
French School, XVIII Century
THE SONS OF CHARLES X. OF FRANCE.
AFTER AN ORIGINAL PICTURE IN THE
MUSÉE DE VERSAILLES,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Madame Anna Rosalie Filleul, née Bocquet, Painter
Died 1794
French School, XVIII Century
PORTRAIT OF THE DUC D'ANGOULÊME,
SON OF CHARLES X
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY
BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS,
AFTER AN ORIGINAL PASTEL AT VERSAILLES
Madame Filleul, née Bocquet, Pastellist
Died 1794
PORTRAIT OF MADAME RÉCAMIER IN THE YEAR 1799.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY
BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.,
AFTER AN ORIGINAL PAINTING AT VERSAILLES
Madame Eulalie Morin, Painter
Late 18th Century
French School, XVIII Century
PORTRAIT OF ELISABETH OF FRANCE, DUCHESS OF PARMA.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL
PAINTING AT VERSAILLES
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Madame Adélaïde Guyard, née Labille des Vertus, Painter
In second marriage Mme. F. A. Vincent
1749-1803
French School, XIX Century
PORTRAIT OF MADAME ADÉLAÏDE D'ORLÍANS (1777-1847).
AFTER THE PAINTING
AT CHANTILLY,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Mademoiselle Marie Amélie Cogniet, Painter
1798-1869
French School, XVIII and XIX Centuries
PORTRAIT OF QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE AND HER CHILDREN.
AFTER THE
ORIGINAL PAINTING AT VERSAILLES,
FROM A CARBON PRINT BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT
& CO., PARIS
Madame Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Painter
1755-1842
French School, Between 1792 and 1820
PORTRAIT IN THE PINACOTECA AT TURIN DATED 1792.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY
ALINARI
Madame Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Painter
1755-1842
"THE MINIATURE."
FROM THE PAINTING IN THE GLASGOW GALLERY
AFTER A
PHOTOGRAPH BY HANFSTAENGL
Madame Caroline de Valory, Pupil of Greuze, Painter
Early 19th Century
French School, XVIII and XIX Centuries
PORTRAIT OF MADAME LE BRUN,
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE
NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY HANFSTAENGL
PORTRAIT OF LOUISE MARIE ADÉLAÏDE DE BOURBON (1753-1821).
AFTER THE
ORIGINAL PAINTING AT VERSAILLES,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Madame Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Painter
1755-1842
French School, Early XIX Century
PORTRAIT OF AN ACTRESS, PROBABLY MLLE. BÉLIER.
REPRODUCED FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
BY PERMISSION OF BRAUN, CLÉMENT &
CO., PARIS
Mademoiselle Bouilliar, Painter
Early 19th Century
French School, XIX Century
STUDY OF A BULL
REPRODUCED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH,
BY PERMISSION OF BRAUN,
CLEMENT & CO., PARIS,
OWNERS OF THE COPYRIGHT
Mademoiselle Rosa Bonheur, Painter
1822-1899
French School, Early XIX Century
PORTRAIT OF DAME DE LONGROIS (1763-1826).
AFTER THE PASTEL IN THE
TROCADÉRO
FROM A CARBON PRINT BY BRAUN, CLEMENT & CO., PARIS
Mlle. Marie Gabrielle Capet, Pupil of Madame Guyard, Painter
1761-1818
French School, XVIII and XIX Centuries
MADAME VIGÉE LE BRUN AT HER EASEL.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE
UFFIZI, FLORENCE,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY W. A. MANSELL & CO.
Madame Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Painter
1755-1842
French School, 1778-1821
THE HAPPY MOTHER.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE LOUVRE, PARIS,
FROM A COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Mademoiselle Marie Françoise Constance Mayer, Painter
1778-(committed suicide)1821
French School, XVIII and XIX Centuries
PORTRAIT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE (1755-1793).
AFTER THE
ORIGINAL PAINTING AT VERSAILLES
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT &
CO., PARIS
French School, XVIII and XIX Centuries
PORTRAIT OF THE DUCHESS OF POLIGNAC.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN,
CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Painter
1755-1842
French School, 1767 to 1830
PORTRAIT OF MADAME VILLOT, NÉE BARBIER.
FROM A CARBON PRINT BY BRAUN,
CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Mme. Jeanne Élisabeth Chaudet, née Gabiou, Painter
1767-1830
PORTRAIT OF MARGUERITE J. A. HOUDON, FIRST COUSIN OF HOUDON THE
SCULPTOR.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN CLÉMENT & CO.
Mlle. Marguerite J. A. Houdon, Painter
1771-1795
French School, 1778-1849
PORTRAIT OF MADAME DE STAËL (1766-1817).
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
AT VERSAILLES,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN
Mademoiselle Marie Eléonore Godefroid, Painter
1778-1849
PORTRAIT OF CHARLES MAURICE,
PRINCE OF TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD
(1754-1838).
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN,
AFTER THE PAINTING AT
VERSAILLES
Mademoiselle Marie Eléonore Godefroid, Painter
1778-1849
French School, XVIII and XIX Centuries
PORTRAIT OF MADAME MOLÉ-RAYMOND,
ACTRESS OF THE COMÉDIE-FRANÇAISE.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE LOUVRE,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN,
CLÉMENT & CO.
Madame Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Painter
1755-1842
French School, XIX Century
"SHEPHERD WATCHING HIS SHEEP."
AFTER THE PICTURE IN THE MUSÉE DE
CHANTILLY,
FROM A COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH
BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Rosa Bonheur, Painter
1822-1899
French School, XIX Century
PORTRAIT OF MARSHAL LEFÈVRE, DUKE OF DANTZIC.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY
NEWIDEIN
AFTER THE PAINTING AT VERSAILLES
Madame C. H. F. Davin, née Mirvault, Painter
1773-1844
PORTRAIT (PAINTED BY HERSELF) OF MADAME RUDE, PUPIL OF DAVID.
FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS,
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING AT DIJON
Madame Sophie Rude, née Frémiet, Painter
1797-1867
French School, Early XIX Century
A GOOD DAUGHTER. REPRODUCED
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE,
FROM AN
ENGRAVING BY S. W. REYNOLDS
Madame Antoinette Cécile Haudebourt Lescot, Painter
1784-1845
French School, 1847
PLOUGHING IN THE NIVERNAIS. DATED 1847.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN
THE MUSÉE DU LUXEMBOURG,
FROM A CARBON PRINT BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Mademoiselle Rosa Bonheur, Painter
1822-1899
French School, XIX Century
THE HORSE FAIR.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE IN THE TATE GALLERY,
LONDON,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY THE AUTOTYPE COMPANY,
NEW OXFORD STREET,
LONDON
Mademoiselle Rosa Bonheur, Painter
1822-1899
French Impressionist School, XIX Century
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG WOMAN SEATED.
REPRODUCED
FROM THE ORIGINAL
PAINTING
BY PERMISSION OF MESSRS. DURAND-RUEL & SONS,
PARIS AND NEW
YORK
Mademoiselle Berthe Morisot, Painter
1840-1895
French Impressionist School, XIX Century
THE JETTY.—AN OUTDOOR IMPRESSION.
REPRODUCED FROM THE ORIGINAL
PAINTING
BY PERMISSION OF MESSRS. DURAND-RUEL & SONS,
PARIS AND NEW
YORK
Berthe Morisot, Painter
1840-1895
French School, 1879
THE KING OF THE DESERT.
FROM AN ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE PRADO,
MADRID, DATED 1879.
AFTER A PHOTOGRAPH BY J. LAURENT & CO., MADRID
Mademoiselle Rosa Bonheur, Painter
1822-1899
French School, about 1879
'BRISCO,' A SHEPHERD'S DOG.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE WALLACE
COLLECTION, LONDON,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY W. A. MANSELL & CO.
Mademoiselle Rosa Bonheur, Painter
1822-1899
French School, 1878 and 1879
A NEW SONG.
FROM THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, DATED 1879,
AFTER A PHOTOGRAPH
BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Mademoiselle Angèle Dubos, Painter
THE BOUQUET.
FROM THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, DATED 1878,
AFTER A
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Jeanne Fichel, née Samson, Painter
French School, Contemporary
MISTLETOE.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY MESSRS.
BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Jacqueline Comerre-Paton, Painter
French School, 1878 and 1881
THE KNITTER ASLEEP.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE, DATED 1881,
FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Mademoiselle Marie Petiet, Painter
A YOUNG ADOLESCENT.
FROM A PICTURE EXHIBITED AT THE SALON IN 1878,
AFTER A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Madame Laure de Chatillon, Painter
French School, 1880
PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.
AFTER AN ORIGINAL PICTURE EXHIBITED AT THE
PARIS SALON IN 1880
Madame Armand Émilie Leleux, Painter
SITTING FOR A PORTRAIT IN 1806.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE
FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Mademoiselle Jeanne Rongier, Painter
French School, about 1881
"RÉGALEZ-VOUS, MESDAMES!"
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, DATED 1881,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Mlle. Jenny Zillhardt, Painter
BY THE BANK OF A STREAM.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.,
PARIS
Mlle. Hermine Waternau. Painter
French School, 1882
FATHER RICARD.
AFTER A PAINTING EXHIBITED AT THE SALON IN 1882,
FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Mlle. Marie Nicolas, Painter
THE LAST SURVIVORS OF A FAMILY.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL
PAINTING
BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Félicie Schneider, Painter
French School, XIX Century
PORTRAIT OF A LADY SEATED.
AFTER THE PASTEL IN THE MUSÉE DU
LUXEMBOURG,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Madame Eva Gonzalès, Pastellist
1849-1883
French School, Between 1882 and 1898
CHARITY.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN,
CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Uranie Colin-Libour, Painter
"FLEURS DE SERRE."
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BY
BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Alix Enault, Painter
French School, 1883
ON THE SEA-SHORE.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IN THE LUXEMBOURG,
PARIS, DATED 1883,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY MESSRS. LÉVY & SONS, PARIS
Madame Virginie Demont-Breton, Painter
French School, 1887 to about 1892
BEFORE THE DANCE.
AFTER AN ORIGINAL PAINTING DATED 1887,
FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Madame E. de Tavernier, Painter
DESOLATION.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL STUDY
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH LENT BY THE
ARTIST
Madame Marie Cazin, Painter
French School, 1885 and 1890
IN THE GYNÆCEUM. DATED 1885.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL
PAINTING BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Mlle. Diana Coomans, Painter
AT LOW TIDE.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE, DATED 1890.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH
BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Mlle. Eugénie Salanson, Painter
French School, Contemporary
"SLEEP."
REPRODUCED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH
BY PERMISSION OF BRAUN, CLÉMENT
& CO.,
THE OWNERS OF THE COPYRIGHT.
Francine Charderon, Painter
French School, from 1880 to the Present Day
THE FRUIT GIRL.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE
BY PERMISSION OF MESSRS.
DURAND-RUEL & SONS, PARIS
Madame Eva Gonzalès, Painter
1849-1883
STUDY FROM A MODEL.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH LENT
BY THE ARTIST
Mademoiselle Dufau, Painter
French School, 1880 and 1894
A GOOD CIGARETTE.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, DATED 1880,
FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Madame Delphine de Cool, née Fortin, Painter
A HOLIDAY AT SOSTHÈNE.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, DATED 1894,
FROM A
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Madame Blanche Paymal-Amouroux, Painter
French School, 1894
"STELLA MARIS."
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING, DATED 1894,
AND EXHIBITED
AT THE SALON IN 1895,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Madame Virginie Demont-Breton, Painter
French School, Contemporary
MATERNAL LOVE.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN,
CLEMENT & CO., PARIS
Elizabeth Gardner (Madame W. A. Bouguereau), Painter
French School, Contemporary
"THE PATHWAY TO THE VILLAGE CHURCH."
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
FROM
A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Fanny Fleury, Painter
French School, Contemporary
THE GODDESSES BEFORE PARIS.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Élisabeth Sonrel, Painter
WINTER.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN,
CLEMENT & CO.
Mlle. Louise Abbéma, Painter
French School, Contemporary
THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY
BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO.
Elizabeth Gardner (Madame W. A. Bouguereau), Painter
French School, Contemporary
MOTHER AND CHILD
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PICTURE
Madame Marie Cazin, Painter
SHEPHERD
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
Madame Marie Cazin, Painter
French School, Contemporary
IMPRESSION OF A CITY.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
Mademoiselle Dufau, Painter
A BASKET OF FLOWERS.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
Madame Victoria Dubourg (Fantin-Latour), Painter
French School, Contemporary
"THE DEPARTURE."
REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION
AFTER A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN,
CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Vallet-Bisson, Painter
French School, Contemporary
CHARACTER IN SPAIN
AFTER THE ORIGINAL STUDY
Mademoiselle Dufau, Painter
STUDY OF TIGERS.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
Madame Abran, Painter
French School, Contemporary
"LES CHANDELLES."
AFTER AN ORIGINAL PAINTING EXHIBITED AT THE SALON IN
1896,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN, PARIS
Madeleine Carpentier, Painter
French School, Contemporary
IN SEARCH OF PREY.
AFTER AN ORIGINAL PICTURE EXHIBITED AT THE PARIS
SALON IN 1900,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN
Mademoiselle E. Hilda, Painter
French School, Contemporary
ROMEO AND JULIET.
AFTER AN ORIGINAL PAINTING EXHIBITED AT THE PARIS
SALON IN 1900,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN
Mademoiselle A. Oppenheim, Painter
French School, about 1892.
WILL YOU BUY?
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY MESSRS.
BRAUN, CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Mademoiselle Consuélo Fould, Painter
French School, Contemporary
CHILDREN EATING SOUP IN A CHARITY SCHOOL.
FROM AN ORIGINAL PICTURE
EXHIBITED AT THE PARIS SALON IN 1901.
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN
Mademoiselle E. Herland, Painter
French School, Contemporary
COURTSHIP
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
BY BRAUN, CLÉMENT
& CO., PARIS
Mdlle. Achille-Fould, Painter
French School, Contemporary
"BÉBÉ ET ZIZON."
REPRODUCED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN
Madame Lucas-Robiquet, Painter
"DO YOU WANT A MODEL?"
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY NEWIDEIN
Madame Réal del Sarte, Painter
THE LESSON.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN
CLÉMENT & CO.
Mlle. Joséphine Houssay, Painter
French School, 1903 and 1904
PORTRAIT.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN,
CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Madame Le Roy, Painter
FLORA.
AFTER THE ORIGINAL PAINTING,
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN,
CLÉMENT & CO., PARIS
Mademoiselle Claudie, Painter
