Madame
Georges Hugo
(Jeanne Hugo) and Her Son, Charles Daudet
Giovanni
Boldini --
Italian-French portrait painter
1898
Private
collection
Oil on canvas
212 x
122 cm (83
1/4 x 47 1/4 in.)
signed Boldini and dated 1898 (lower right)
jpg: community
webshots Sothebys
From: Sothebys
<>Confusion
over the identification of the sitters for this portrait was resolved
in 1995, at the time of the picture's sale from the Rothschild
collection. Not Mme. Jean Hugo and son, as previously published (real
personages, although not of the appropriate age for this dated
portrait), but actually Jeanne Hugo, grand-daughter of Victor Hugo, the
revered French author, and her son, Charles Daudet. The title, Madame
Hugo and her Son, is an invented appellation combining Jeanne Hugo's
maiden name and the courtesy title of Madame, as she was thrice a
widow, with a surname different from her son's, when the painting was
first publicly exhibited in 1933.
The Catalogo generale
completamente of the Museo Giovanni Boldini (Ferrara, 1997, p. 431)
publishes a mis-identified drawing that must have been Boldini's
primary compositional study for the charming pose of the sitters in
Portrait of Madame Hugo and her Son. The rapid outline sketch is in
itself a testament to how well Boldini understood the human figure and
to his ability to quickly seize movement from live models.
This catalogue entry was
written by Alexandra Murphy.
Please note that Bianca Doria
has requested that we remove the reference to her book, published in
2000 from the literature we list in the catalogue. It is our opinion
that the photograph illustrated in her book shows the painting in an
earlier state.
Please note the additional
literature reference: P.Dini, F.Dini, Boldini. Catalogo ragionato,
U.Allemandi & C., Torino-London-Venice, 2002, vol.IV, n.730,
ill.p.395.
(Sothebys<>)
Notes
Special thanks to Stephanie
for
sending me a link to this panting.
Provenance
Baron
Maurice de Rothschild (acquired directly from the artist)
Thence by descent
Sale, Christie's, New York,
November 1, 1995, lot 14, illustrated (acquired by the present owner
from the above sale)
Offered
for sale Sothebys, 20 Apr 2005 ; London, Session 1,
sale No. N0808510, lot 125 (of 267); estimated: 800,000—1,000,000
USD
Exhibitions
New York, Wildenstein and
Co., Loan Exhibition, Paintings by Boldini, 1845- 1931, 1920, no. 18
Bibliography
C. Ragghianti and E.
Camesasca, L'Opera completa di Boldini, Milan, 1970, p. 113, no. 297
illustrated (as Signora con bambino vestito da marinaio)
P. Mauries, Boldini, Milan,
1987, p. 69, illustrated
B. Doria, Giovanni Boldini,
Catalogo generale dagli archivi Boldini, Milan, 2000, no. 393 (as
Signora con bambino vestito da marinaio)
T. Panconi, Giovanni Boldini,
L'Opera Completa, Florence, 2002, p. 385 illustrated
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