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Pauline Laurens (27 May 1850 – 1 January 1941) was a French painter and printmaker. In 1873, aged 22, Laurens exhibited for the first time in the highly esteemed Salon de Paris. Her work was selected for exhibition in ten subsequent Salons. Laurens was married to Gustave Besnard, an officer who served the French Navy for 50 years and was Navy Minister between 1895 and 1898. Her paintings were described by art critic Eugène-Henri Le Brun-Dalbanne in 1875 as close to paintings by Watteau and Greuze.
Biography
Born in Paris in 1850 in an upper-middle-class family, Laurens grew up in a family environment that viewed art and painting as key to a young girl's education. Since women could not yet attend the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Paris, Laurens studied painting with Charles Joshua Chaplin (1825–1891), a highly regarded teacher known for his elegant portraits of young women. During the Belle Époque, Chaplin conducted art classes specifically for women at his studio (23 rue de Lisbonne in Paris). Laurens’classmates included Mary Cassatt, Henriette Browne, Louise Abbéma, Madeleine Lemaire, Eva Gonzalès. Laurens also studied engraving with Charles Albert Waltner (1846–1925), known for his ability to render large color paintings by Rembrandt, Thomas Gainsborough and Eugène Delacroix into etchings. Laurens exhibited annually at the Paris Salon de peinture et de sculpture between 1873 and 1884. During the Belle Époque, the Paris Salon was a major annual event. Simply put, it was the most important event in French artistic life. Having a painting in it gave the artists prestige and visibility. The artists presented their works to the public after they had been examined and accepted by a jury.
The Paris Salon attracted a large number of visitors (520,000 in 1876, 50,000 on certain Sundays). By the years 1875–1890, the Salon was almost the only place where artists could make a career and sell their works. Not surprisingly, the presence of female artists at the Salon was significantly minor compared to their male fellows.
In the years 1875–1880, Pauline Laurens was a popular portrait painter in the high society of the Third Republic.
Between 1875 and 1880, she also produced a number of prints using the etching technique. She received an honorable mention for her engravings at the 1877 Paris Salon.
In 1880, Pauline Laurens visited Italy (Florence, Rome, the Vatican, Naples). She admired and copied masterpieces in churches and palaces.
In 1881, she married Gustave Besnard, who was a Navy Captain at the time. Besnard was subsequently promoted to Vice Admiral in 1892, and served as Ministre de la Marine, the French equivalent of First Lord of the Admiralty, between 1895 and 1898. They had eight children, four girls and four boys.
After her marriage in 1881, Pauline Laurens, in order to be in line with the social conventions of the time, gave up selling her paintings and etchings. It was simply unthinkable for a Navy officer's wife to have a profession at the Belle Époque. But Laurens continued to paint portraits of those close to her.
In the 1880s and 1890s, Pauline Laurens painted portraits of her children, signing them with her maiden name as a way of expressing her independence. These portraits testify to Laurens's virtuosity in capturing on canvas the features of young models, always quick to get restless.
Public collections
Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Troyes (Musée Saint-Loup): Rosette et Dick (1875), oil on canvas, inventory number 875.6, Joconde database reference 000PE033148.
British Museum: Portrait de M. Chaplin, after a painting by Gustave Ricard, etching, inventory number 1880.0214.1966.
Philadelphia Museum of Art: Poverella!, after a painting by Pauline Laurens, etching inventory number 1985-52-17906 Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris: Joueuse de guitare, after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching, inventory number PPG15897.
Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris: Fillette écrivant, after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching, inventory number PPG15908.
Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris : Portrait of a girl in a medallion, after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching, inventory number PPG1591(1).
Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris: Portrait de femme, after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching, inventory number PPG1591(2).
Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris: La jeune mère, after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching, inventory number PPG1592(2).
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: Portrait de M. Chaplin, after a painting by Gustave Ricard, etching, inventory number 1963.30.22985.
Musée Gassendi, Digne-les-Bains: Poverella!, after a painting by Pauline Laurens, etching.
Private collections
Paintings
Une distraction, oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1873 Paris Salon under number 882.
Poverella! oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1874 Paris Salon under number 1102.
Joueuse de mandoline (1875), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1875 Paris Salon under number 1257.
Béatrix (1875), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1875 Paris Salon under number 1258.
Self-portrait (1875), oil on canvas.
Betsy, la boutiquière (1876), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1876 Paris Salon under number 1211.
Portrait de Madame L. (1877), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1877 Paris Salon under number 1232.
Portrait d'enfant au nœud rouge (1877), oil on canvas.
Portrait de Mademoiselle M. B. (1878), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1878 Paris Salon under number 1338.
Une page attachante (1879), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1879 Paris Salon under number 1795.
Rêverie (1879), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1879 Paris Salon under number 1796.
Müngyn (1880), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1880 Paris Salon under number 2156. Dimensions: H. 115, W. 87 cm.
Portrait de Mademoiselle Marguerite B. (1880), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1880 Paris Salon under number 2157.
La Liseuse (circa 1880), oil on canvas.
Portrait de Madame Boullaire, sœur de l'artiste (1881), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1881 Paris Salon under number 1347.
Portrait de Monseigneur Bagnoud, évêque de Bethléem, oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1881 Paris Salon under number 1348.
Portrait de Mademoiselle Jeanne T. (1882), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1882 Paris Salon under number 1563.
Portrait of Navy Captain Gustave Besnard (1883), oil on canvas, exhibited at the 1884 Paris Salon under number 1426.
Portrait of Jean Besnard, son of the artist (1890), oil on canvas.
Portrait of Yvonne Besnard, daughter of the artist (1890), oil on canvas.
Portrait of Jeanne Besnard, daughter of the artist (1891), oil on canvas.
Portrait of Jacques Besnard, son of the artist (1891), oil on canvas.
Portrait of Hélène Besnard, daughter of the artist (1891), oil on canvas.
Etchings
Source:.
Jeune fille, after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching exhibited at the 1875 Paris Salon under number 3726.
Colombine, after a painting by Madeleine Lemaire, etching exhibited at the 1875 Paris Salon under number 3726.
Tête de vieille femme, after L. Hugo, etching, circa 1875.
Poverella!, after a painting by Pauline Laurens, etching exhibited at the 1875 Paris Salon under number 3726.
Woman Playing Guitar, after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching exhibited at the 1876 Paris Salon under number 3893.
Portrait de Madame Boullaire, sœur de l'artiste, after a painting by Amaury-Duval, etching exhibited at the 1876 Paris Salon under number 3894.
L'Étude, after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching exhibited at the 1877 Paris Salon under number 4454.
Une École au Caire, after a painting by Henriette Browne, etching exhibited at the 1877 Paris Salon under number 4455.
Portrait de Mademoiselle de B., after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching exhibited at the 1878 Paris Salon under number 4854.
Portrait de Mademoiselle de G., after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching exhibited at the 1878 Paris Salon under number 4855.
Portrait de M. Chaplin, after a painting by Gustave Ricard, etching exhibited at the 1879 Paris Salon under number 5712.
Portrait de Madame la Vicomtesse de C., after a painting by Charles Chaplin, etching exhibited at the 1880 Paris Salon under number 7058.
Critical reception
In 1875, Eugène-Henri Le Brun-Dalbanne, curator of the Musée de Peinture de Troyes between 1871 and 1880, writes of the painting Rosette et Dick: “To remind us of Watteau, to awaken memories of Greuze, by recalling Chaplin, and yet to remain oneself, is no small talent. Mademoiselle Pauline Laurens had it in her lovely painting entitled: Rosette and Dick. Mademoiselle Pauline Laurens, who draws and paints with great skill, no longer counts her successes. Admitted to all the Salons to which she has presented her works, she is bound to join the pleiad of those sensitive, intelligent, gifted women artists who know how to prove that art is not a vain amusement for them.”
In Les femmes artistes au Salon de 1878 et à l'Exposition universelle, Anatole Alès (using the pseudonym Jean Alesson) writes of the Portrait de Mademoiselle M. B. exhibited at the 1878 Paris Salon: “Among the latest child portraits, we would like to mention the portrait by Pauline Laurens of a young girl in gray velvet with a pomegranate-red bow. The child, holding a hoop, is motionless only out of obedience. Life has not abandoned her. It is a beautiful painting, very distinguished” (page 14).
In his Dictionnaire Véron, Théodore Véron writes of the painting Une page attachante exhibited at the 1879 Paris Salon : “This charming young chatelaine lowers her pretty head, wearing a straw hat adorned with poppies. She reads with an air of modesty. It is as suave and poetic as a painting by Chaplin”. Then, about the portrait Rêverie exhibited at the same Salon in 1879: “La Rêverie is a very pretty person, who is really dreaming. Oh, how beautiful she really is! And what poetry you are pouring out, mademoiselle! In truth, you are approaching Mrs. Browne and Mr. Chaplin! With a little effort, you are on your way to great rewards. For you are a poet, mademoiselle”.
References
- Emmanuel Bénézit, Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays, Tome 3 L-Z, Ernest Gründ Éditeur, Paris, 1924, p. 52
- Exposition de la Société des Amis des Arts de l’Aube, Album du Salon de 1875, reproductions photographiques par M. Gustave Lancelot, texte par MM. Eugène-Henri Le Brun-Dalbanne, Alexis Muenier et Paul Nancey, Dufour-Bouquot imprimeur, rue Notre Dame, Troyes, 1875. May be read at the Troyes City Library
- Site Paris Archives http://archives.paris.fr/s/39/etat-civil-reconstitue-actes/
- Ministère de l’Instruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts, Direction des Beaux-Arts, Salon de 1877. Explication des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure et lithographie des artistes vivants exposés au Palais des Champs-Élysées le 1er mai 1877, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1877, page 5. May be read online on Gallica.
- Henri Béraldi, Les graveurs du XIXe siècle. Guide de l’amateur d’estampes modernes, tome 9, Librairie Léon Conquet Éditeur, 5 rue Drouot, Paris, 1889. May be read online on Gallica.
- Journal Le Gaulois, Paris, 27 mai 1877. May be read online on Gallica
- "print; newspaper/periodical | British Museum". The British Museum.
- "Joueuse de guitare d'après Chaplin | Paris Musées". www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr.
- "Fillette écrivant d'après Chaplin | Paris Musées". www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr.
- "Portrait de fillette dans un médaillon d'après Chaplin | Paris Musées". www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr.
- "Portrait de femme d'après Chaplin | Paris Musées". www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr.
- "La jeune mère d'après Chaplin | Paris Musées". www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr.
- Website of the de Young and Legion of Honor Museums of San Francisco.
- Ministère de l’Instruction Publique et des Beaux-Arts, Direction des Beaux-Arts, Salon de 1873. Explication des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure et lithographie des artistes vivants exposés au Palais des Champs-Élysées le 5 mai 1873, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1873, page 136. May be read online on Gallica.
- Salon de Paris de 1874. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1875. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1876. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1877. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1878. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1879. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1879. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1880. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- ^ Salon de Paris de 1881. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1882. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Salon de Paris de 1884. https://salons.musee-orsay.fr/
- Louis Auvray, Dictionnaire Général des Artistes de l’École Française depuis l’origine des arts du dessin jusqu’en 1882. Architectes, peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs et lithographes, Librairie Renouard, 6 rue de Tournon, Paris 6e arrondissement, 1882, tome 1, p. 924. May be read online on Gallica.
- Exposition de la Société des Amis des Arts de l’Aube, Album du Salon de 1875, reproductions photographiques par M. Gustave Lancelot, texte par MM. Eugène-Henri Le Brun-Dalbanne, Alexis Muenier et Paul Nancey, Dufour-Bouquot imprimeur, rue Notre Dame, Troyes, 1875. May be read at the Troyes City Library.
- Anatole Alès, Les femmes artistes au Salon de 1878 et à l'Exposition universelle, Hachette BNF, 2013. First ans original edition : 1878. May be read online on Gallica.
- Théodore Véron, Dictionnaire Véron. Salon de 1879. May be read online on Gallica.