Provenance
Possibly Doctor Vaucaire, Paris. Possibly Mme Berne-Bellecour, Paris.[1] Probably Dr. Georges de Bellio [1828-1894], Paris; probably by inheritance to M et Mme [she, née Victorine de Bellio, 1863-1958] Ernest Donop de Monchy, Paris; sold probably 1906 to Alexandre Berthier [1883-1918], 4th Prince de Wagram, Paris;[2] probably by inheritance to his sister, Élisabeth Marguerite, Princesse de La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais, Paris; sold by Wagram heirs though (Canadeesche Hypothek Bank) through (Étienne Bignou, Paris) to (Alex Reid & Lefèvre, London); on joint account with (M. Knoedler & Co., London, New York and Paris) and (Marcel Kapferer); sold September 1929 to Baron Maurice de Rothschild [1881-1957], Paris.[3] (Paul Rosenberg et Cie., Paris), by 1934.[4] Acquired by 1941 by Dr. David M. [1892-1977] and Adele Rosenwald [1892-1960] Levy, New York;[5] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] Vaucaire and Mme Berne-Bellecour according to the he Bignou albums at the documentation center of the Musée d'Orsay (copy in NGA curatorial files). The latter is possibly the wife of the artisit Eitenne Prosper Berne-Bellecour [1838-1910].
[2] According to Léa Saint-Raymond, Monchy seems to have commissioned a Madame Bresnard, the mother of architect Alfred-Jean Besnard, to sell the portrait; she contacted Berthier, and when he was slow to decide, the dealer Edouard Jonas, who was also interested in acquiring the painting, demanded on 13 March 1906 that Berthier inform Mme Bresnard of his decision. This spurred Berthier to purchase it. See Saint-Raymond, “Coulisses et Ficelles du Métier: Dans les Pas du Prince de Wagram,” Alice Ensabella, et al., _Histoire des galeries d’art en France du XIXe au XXIe siècle_, Paris: 2024: 144. See also Saint-Raymond and Hadrien Viraben, "Alexandre Berthier, the 4th Prince de Wagram: documentation on his collection (1904-1917)", 2019, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/TIFXCH, Harvard Dataverse, V1.
[3] Reid & Lefèvre Paintings Sold, sheet no. 211, #28/29 B1424 gives acquisition source and partial share information (Lefèvre archives, Hyman Kreitman Research Centre, Tate Britain, London, TGA 2002/11, Box 283).
[4] Reproduced in Carroll Carstairs, _Postscript to Criticism_, London, 1934, crediting Paul Rosenberg.
[4] The painting was lent by Dr. and Mrs. Levy to a 1941 exhibition in New York.
Accession Number
1961.3.1
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
painted surface: 65.8 x 49.5 cm (25 7/8 x 19 1/2 in.) | stretcher size: 68.8 x 53.6 cm (27 1/16 x 21 1/8 in.) | framed: 102.9 x 87 cm (40 1/2 x 34 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of the Adele R. Levy Fund, Inc.
Tags
Painting Impressionist & Modern (1851–1900) Oil Painting Canvas French
Background & Context
Background Story
Madame Henriot (c. 1876) is a portrait of the wife of a Parisian actor or theatrical figure—one of the many portraits Renoir painted of the theatrical world that provided him with both subjects and patrons. The year 1876 was crucial for Renoir: he was developing the distinctive Impressionist portrait style that would make him the most successful portraitist of the Impressionist group. Madame Henriot's portrait likely captures the specific quality of theatrical society—its elegance, its awareness of appearance, and the self-presentation skills that theatrical training provided. Renoir's treatment of his sitter demonstrates the fluid brushwork and warm palette that distinguished his portraiture from the more conventional approaches available to Parisian sitters. The painting's intimacy—the impression of a quick, sympathetic encounter rather than a formal sitting—reflects Renoir's ability to capture his sitters' presence without the stiffness that prolonged posing typically produced. The 1876 date also places this during the period when Renoir was painting his most celebrated works—Bal du moulin de la Galette and other scenes of Parisian leisure—and the portrait shares these works' warmth and immediacy. Madame Henriot's connection to the theatrical world also links this portrait to the broader Parisian entertainment culture that provided Impressionist painting with many of its most characteristic subjects.
Cultural Impact
Renoir's theatrical portraits influenced how the Parisian entertainment world was represented in art, documenting the social milieu that produced both Impressionist subjects and Impressionist patrons. The paintings influenced later portrait painters who similarly sought to capture theatrical society's specific quality of self-presentation. The 1876 portrait influenced how Renoir's portraiture was understood, connecting his figure style to the broader Impressionist engagement with Parisian modernity.
Why It Matters
This painting matters because it captures the specific social world of Parisian theater—.milieu that was simultaneously a source of artistic subjects and a market for artistic products—with the warmth and immediacy that distinguish Renoir's best portraiture from more conventional approaches.
