Lot Essay
A student of both François Edouard Picot (1784-1865) and Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), Edouard-Théophile Blanchard was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1868 for a painting entitled La Mort d'Astyanax. Although his early work was often of mythological subjects, he also executed many portraits of the tout Paris as well as a number of romantic landscapes. Blanchard exhibited at the Salon and received various prizes throughout his career- but short by his death at the age of 35. He was a close friend of both Henri Regnault and Georges Jules Victor Clairin and the three even collaborated on a decorative panel, jointly exhibited at the Salon of 1868.
In an effort to capture the essence of modern life, many painters in the second half of the nineteenth century turned to contemporary literature for inspiration. In 1878, the long poem of Rolla by Alfred de Musset was the subject of Henri Gervex's most famous and, at the time, infamous, painting by the same name. That same year, with a similar composition, Blanchard also transfers poetry to painting. Le bouffon is directly inspired by the work of Victor Hugo whose lines from Le Roi s'amuse explain the eerie pathos of the present painting:
Mépris de toute part! - Tout homme l'humilie.
Ou bien c'est une reine, une femme jolie,
Demi-nue at charmante, et dont il voudrait bien,
Qui le laisse jouer sur son lit, comme un chien!
The sensual reclining nude, accompanied by strange figures or animals, has its precedent in such works as Henry Fuseli's (1741-1825) 1791 The Nightmare or even more relevantly, Edouard Manet's (1832-1883) Olympia of 1865, where a romantic idea is re-interpreted to reflect l'air du temps. Blanchard's imposing painting remained in the family after the artist's death, most recently hanging amongst the ornaments designed and sculpted by another nineteenth century icon, Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse (1848-1913), in the Hotel de Païva on the Champs-Elysées. Formerly the home of the famous nineteenth century courtesan La Païva - who would certainly have appreciated this bold and sensual work - the Hotel de Païva today houses the Traveller's Club.
In an effort to capture the essence of modern life, many painters in the second half of the nineteenth century turned to contemporary literature for inspiration. In 1878, the long poem of Rolla by Alfred de Musset was the subject of Henri Gervex's most famous and, at the time, infamous, painting by the same name. That same year, with a similar composition, Blanchard also transfers poetry to painting. Le bouffon is directly inspired by the work of Victor Hugo whose lines from Le Roi s'amuse explain the eerie pathos of the present painting:
Mépris de toute part! - Tout homme l'humilie.
Ou bien c'est une reine, une femme jolie,
Demi-nue at charmante, et dont il voudrait bien,
Qui le laisse jouer sur son lit, comme un chien!
The sensual reclining nude, accompanied by strange figures or animals, has its precedent in such works as Henry Fuseli's (1741-1825) 1791 The Nightmare or even more relevantly, Edouard Manet's (1832-1883) Olympia of 1865, where a romantic idea is re-interpreted to reflect l'air du temps. Blanchard's imposing painting remained in the family after the artist's death, most recently hanging amongst the ornaments designed and sculpted by another nineteenth century icon, Louis-Robert Carrier-Belleuse (1848-1913), in the Hotel de Païva on the Champs-Elysées. Formerly the home of the famous nineteenth century courtesan La Païva - who would certainly have appreciated this bold and sensual work - the Hotel de Païva today houses the Traveller's Club.