&w=3840&q=75)
&w=3840&q=75)
&w=3840&q=75)
&w=3840&q=75)
&w=3840&q=75)
&w=3840&q=75)
7
Edgar MAXENCE (1871-1954)
The item was sold for 13 000 €
Fees include commission and taxes.
Edgar MAXENCE (1871-1954)
Portrait of Gabrielle Lihoreau (née Rhodes-Goodwin) with a peacock in front of the Château de Saultré, the family property, 1899
Oil on canvas, signed lower left, and marked upper right with the coat of arms of Alain de Roquefeuil-Cahuzac (second husband of the model)
82 x 66 cm
32 1/4 x 26 in.
An old label 273 on the lower right
PROVENANCE
The model's family, Château de Sautré, Pays-de-la-Loire
Then by descent
EDGAR MAXENCE
Presented for the first time to the public, the Portrait of Gabrielle Lihoreau painted by Edgar Maxence in 1899, has been kept for more than a hundred years by the Lihoreau family, and illustrates the fruit of a long friendship with the painter. Edgar Maxence deploys the teachings of Gustave Moreau and Elie Delaunay, his teachers at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Resolutely symbolist, he was influenced all his life by the Pre-Raphaelites and their compositions inspired by medieval legends. He exhibited at the Salon des artistes français and then at the Salon de Rose-Croix from 1895 to 1897, where the masters of symbolism were present. A recognized painter, he received the Gold Medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, was awarded the Legion of Honor, and was elected to the Institute by the Academy of Fine Arts in 1924. His talent for portraiture is here put at the service of Gabrielle Lihoreau, who is represented in front of the family castle with the coat of arms of her second husband. Leaning nonchalantly on an imaginary balustrade, Gabrielle seems interrupted in her reading by the painter. Her gaze is dreamy but frank. The simplicity of her outfit and the care taken to render the details of her face without artifice bear witness to her closeness to Edgar Maxence, but also to the artistic evolution of the painter, who favours resemblance. He retraces a moment between myth and reality, theatre and subtlety. These qualities made him one of the greatest portraitists of his time. Through the allegorical elements he uses (the peacock for beauty and love, and the book for peace) he gives this portrait of Gabrielle a symbolic dimension. The technique of the golden background is a leitmotif in Edgar Maxence's painting. It testifies to his deep and somewhat nostalgic attachment to the old painting techniques to which he devotes days of preparation. The golden background borrows from the reliquary objects their sacred aura. At the dawn of the 20th century, this portrait, imbued with lyricism and sacredness, is an unprecedented legacy of the symbolist movement.
Portrait of Gabrielle Lihoreau (née Rhodes-Goodwin) with a peacock in front of the Château de Saultré, the family property, 1899
Oil on canvas, signed lower left, and marked upper right with the coat of arms of Alain de Roquefeuil-Cahuzac (second husband of the model)
82 x 66 cm
32 1/4 x 26 in.
An old label 273 on the lower right
PROVENANCE
The model's family, Château de Sautré, Pays-de-la-Loire
Then by descent
EDGAR MAXENCE
Presented for the first time to the public, the Portrait of Gabrielle Lihoreau painted by Edgar Maxence in 1899, has been kept for more than a hundred years by the Lihoreau family, and illustrates the fruit of a long friendship with the painter. Edgar Maxence deploys the teachings of Gustave Moreau and Elie Delaunay, his teachers at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Resolutely symbolist, he was influenced all his life by the Pre-Raphaelites and their compositions inspired by medieval legends. He exhibited at the Salon des artistes français and then at the Salon de Rose-Croix from 1895 to 1897, where the masters of symbolism were present. A recognized painter, he received the Gold Medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, was awarded the Legion of Honor, and was elected to the Institute by the Academy of Fine Arts in 1924. His talent for portraiture is here put at the service of Gabrielle Lihoreau, who is represented in front of the family castle with the coat of arms of her second husband. Leaning nonchalantly on an imaginary balustrade, Gabrielle seems interrupted in her reading by the painter. Her gaze is dreamy but frank. The simplicity of her outfit and the care taken to render the details of her face without artifice bear witness to her closeness to Edgar Maxence, but also to the artistic evolution of the painter, who favours resemblance. He retraces a moment between myth and reality, theatre and subtlety. These qualities made him one of the greatest portraitists of his time. Through the allegorical elements he uses (the peacock for beauty and love, and the book for peace) he gives this portrait of Gabrielle a symbolic dimension. The technique of the golden background is a leitmotif in Edgar Maxence's painting. It testifies to his deep and somewhat nostalgic attachment to the old painting techniques to which he devotes days of preparation. The golden background borrows from the reliquary objects their sacred aura. At the dawn of the 20th century, this portrait, imbued with lyricism and sacredness, is an unprecedented legacy of the symbolist movement.