Lot Essay
The Wildenstein Institute will include this painting in their forthcoming van Dongen catalogue raisonn.
The subject of this painting is Jeanne-Marie Bourgeois, whose stage name was Mistinguette. Born in Flanders in 1875, Mistinguette became one of Paris' most famous entertainers, performing first at the Moulin Rouge (where she was part-proprietress for a time), and later at the Folies Bergres and the Casino de Paris. Her first success at the Moulin Rouge was in partnership with Max Dearly, when they performed a revue called La valse chaloupe (The Swinging, Swaying Waltz), the subject of this work. In her early years Mistinguette was known as an eccentric comedienne, and was often included in character sketches of Parisian low-life women. She is now remembered as a singer and an actress of talent, with mischievous good looks and the most wonderful (and highly insured) pair of legs. Nicknamed "Miss" she was a symbol of Paris to tourists and natives for over half a century.
As one of the "stars" of Paris she mixed in the same circles as van Dongen and Paul Poiret, the latter often designed costumes for her. In her Mmoires, published in the Parisien Librt, her entry for 14 November 1953 recalls van Dongen painting the present work: "Van Dongen painted a picture of our waltz. He put my breasts in the air to make a better painting. Dearly is in his cap."
The subject of this painting is Jeanne-Marie Bourgeois, whose stage name was Mistinguette. Born in Flanders in 1875, Mistinguette became one of Paris' most famous entertainers, performing first at the Moulin Rouge (where she was part-proprietress for a time), and later at the Folies Bergres and the Casino de Paris. Her first success at the Moulin Rouge was in partnership with Max Dearly, when they performed a revue called La valse chaloupe (The Swinging, Swaying Waltz), the subject of this work. In her early years Mistinguette was known as an eccentric comedienne, and was often included in character sketches of Parisian low-life women. She is now remembered as a singer and an actress of talent, with mischievous good looks and the most wonderful (and highly insured) pair of legs. Nicknamed "Miss" she was a symbol of Paris to tourists and natives for over half a century.
As one of the "stars" of Paris she mixed in the same circles as van Dongen and Paul Poiret, the latter often designed costumes for her. In her Mmoires, published in the Parisien Librt, her entry for 14 November 1953 recalls van Dongen painting the present work: "Van Dongen painted a picture of our waltz. He put my breasts in the air to make a better painting. Dearly is in his cap."