Carolus-Duran

These two charming young girls, portrayed by Carolus-Duran, belonged to the high society of the French Third Republic. The painting’s patron, Jeanne Say, Marquise of Brissac and Viscountess of Trédern (1848-1916), was a colorful character. She inherited a colossal family fortune from her father Constant-André Say’s sugar empire and a taste for art. She chose Carolus-Duran, the most sought-after of portrait painter, to reveal the beauty of her two daughters from her second marriage to the Count of Trédern. This full-length double portrait, which the artist exhibited at the Palais des Beaux-Arts during the Universal Exhibition of 1889, attracted the attention of his contemporaries for its skillful and apparent simplicity. It hung in the Say family’s sumptuous mansion at 14 Place Vendôme in Paris.

1889 was a banner year for Carolus-Duran. His difficulties of being a young painter were long gone. Financial support from his hometown of Lille helped him to pursue an artistic career. In 1860, he won the Wicar Foundation prize, which enabled him to live in Rome for a few years. He completed his training by travelling through Italy and Spain, visiting museums. During his career, he travelled and painted in the United States, Russia, Austria and Portugal. Settling in Paris, he became famous by exhibiting his paintings at the official Salon des Beaux-Arts and in amateur circles. He taught to young women painters and young American artists in search of a master, including John Singer Sargent, Theodore Robinson, and Elizabeth Nourse. Carolus-Duran made portraiture his speciality. Winner of several medals at the Salon, he was appointed a member of the jury for the admission of paintings, as well as a member of the jury for the Universal Exhibition of 1889. Carolus-Duran was then a key figure in the Parisian art scene.

The commission from Jeanne Marie Say, Countess of Brissac and Viscountess of Trédern, for Carolus-Duran to paint portraits of her two daughters did not go unnoticed. The information circulated in the press. Le Gaulois and La Petite Presse reported the news. The Viscountess of Trédern, who kept her title after her divorce the previous year, was as famous for her singing as Carolus-Duran was for painting portraits. Thanks to her talent as a musician, she was the organiser of galas, society balls and charity events that were widely reported in the newspapers. She perfected her singing with Mathilde Marchesi, Marquise de Castrone. Since then, she had composed, sung and played the piano at the musical evenings she organized on Tuesdays in her private home on the Place Vendôme, formerly known as the Hôtel de La Fare or the Hôtel de Pourtalès named after its former owners.

When the painting was completed in January 1889, the eldest daughter, Renée (1873-1964), was 16 years old, while her younger sister, Juliette (1875-1963) was 14. Their resemblance is pronounced making it difficult to tell them apart, in this touching, life-size portrait. Carolus-Duran used a visual connection to symbolize their sisterly bond. The vibrant red of the overcoat worn by the older girl is reflected in the lapel of the seated girl’s jacket. In this imposing double portrait, Carolus-Duran succeeded in conveying the complicity and youthfulness of his models through a certain casualness of expression. The objective was to identify a pose that was simultaneously solemn and spontaneous, thereby facilitating the introduction of the two young girls to high society. His rapid brushwork references a preceding drawing, executed in charcoal on a dark undercoat and still visible. The use of color in the painting is noteworthy and contributes to the overall originality of the piece. The dark, colorful background is a recurring element in Carolus-Duran’s portraits of the 1890s, (particularly those of his daughter Madame Feydeau and her children, 1897, Musée d’Orsay). The strong contrast obtained serves to highlight both the subtle tones of the models' skin and the rich hues of their dresses. The remarkable quality of the brushwork is due to the seemingly rapid execution technique of Carolus-Duran, ‘fra presto’ of which he is the undisputed master.

Two months after its completion, the painting was presented at the Beaux-Arts decennial exhibition in April 1889. This exhibition brought together the best creations of the last ten years for the Universal Exhibition held in Paris. The present painting was displayed in plain sight in Room of the Palais des Beaux-Arts. The painter and art critic Olivier Merson, admired it in his review published in the leading daily newspaper Le Monde Illustré:

"Mr Carolus Duran has a great exhibition. It is made up of ten paintings, all of them are marked by the powerful spring of the stamp of originality that is the artist’s glory. (...) Of these ten paintings, three are new: the bust of Mr Pasteur, expressive and firm, the full-length portraits of two young girls, Mlles de T..., grouped in the same frame, one seated, the other standing - there is a white satin dress here, of extraordinary charm - and a portrait of a child in a red dress, a pure marvel of broad, fine and supple modelling and lively coloring"

Two years later, on December 1st 1891, Renée, the eldest daughter (who is probably standing on the right side), married Count Gabriel de Sesmaisons (1865-1917), a future infantry squadron leader. Their marriage was announced in the press. The Viscountess de Trédern held the festivities at her hôtel in the Place Vendôme. In the gallery of family portraits, guests could admire the one of the two sisters, ladies de Trédern painted by Carolus-Duran, which hung in one of the salons.

Juliette, the youngest daughter, married Count Marc Bonnin de la Bonninière de Beaumont on 10 August 1894. She wore a Louis XVI gown of white satin and orange blossoms, with a large Marie-Antoinette neckerchief of magnificent lace . Her husband was vice-president of the Cercle de l’Union Internationale, director of a company and captain of the reserve cavalry.