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Lot Essay
This lavish gift was presented to Jeanne Granier at the height of her career. The daughter of the actress Emma Granier, Jeanne trained under Madame Barthe-Banderali studying music and opéra-comique. Her debut in 1873 was in the role of Rose Michon in Jacques Offenbach's opéra-comique La jolie parfumeuse. She was of very slight build, so much so that in Madame le Diable she was concealed within a small suitcase carried on stage and from she emerged, with a great flourish, in the character of the devil.
Mentioned by Proust in À la recherche du temps perdu, she was a star of both the Paris and London stage. Her beauty attracted the attentions of King Edward VII. On his visit to Paris in 1903 the King encountered Jeanne at the theatre, greeting her in French with words "Ah Mademoiselle, I remember how I applauded you in London where you represented all the grace, all the esprit of France". It was said he never missed a performance of her's when in Paris and indeed it is said his interest went far beyond mere admiration.
This present lot commemorates her performance as the Parisian florist Charlotte who falls in and out of love with the law student Lucien Bréard in Alfred Capus' four act play La Viene, which had its premiere at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris on 2 April 1901. Capus felt he had had mastered the art of the playwright with this particular play. He had a deep understanding of the age and the spirit of the city in which he lived which he encapsulated in his play. Claire Noyes, in her analysis of the play in The French Review, 'La Viene of Alfred Capus', observed that it 'answered a state of mind prevalent at the turn of the century - the wavering between a deep pessimism and a vague idealism, neither of which is satisfied'. She also noted that 'Jeanne Granier remained always for her public the Charlotte of La Veine, and to Capus the well-loved, the friend of the "good years." Her technique was natural and "gauloise." She seemed the ideal woman for the mixture of optimism, amiability, even voluptuous beatitude, for the cult of Chance, and the hope of an easy love. And yet her tenderness could bring tears to Guitry's eyes.' Guitry played the role of Bréard.
Jeanne continued to act until 1925, revisiting the role of Charlotte in 1907. She was universally admired by all including the artist Renoir, but was painted by Toulouse Lautrec She received the Légion d'honneur in 1921 and died in Paris in 1939 at the age of 87. She was buried in the family vault in Montmartre cemetery.
Mentioned by Proust in À la recherche du temps perdu, she was a star of both the Paris and London stage. Her beauty attracted the attentions of King Edward VII. On his visit to Paris in 1903 the King encountered Jeanne at the theatre, greeting her in French with words "Ah Mademoiselle, I remember how I applauded you in London where you represented all the grace, all the esprit of France". It was said he never missed a performance of her's when in Paris and indeed it is said his interest went far beyond mere admiration.
This present lot commemorates her performance as the Parisian florist Charlotte who falls in and out of love with the law student Lucien Bréard in Alfred Capus' four act play La Viene, which had its premiere at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris on 2 April 1901. Capus felt he had had mastered the art of the playwright with this particular play. He had a deep understanding of the age and the spirit of the city in which he lived which he encapsulated in his play. Claire Noyes, in her analysis of the play in The French Review, 'La Viene of Alfred Capus', observed that it 'answered a state of mind prevalent at the turn of the century - the wavering between a deep pessimism and a vague idealism, neither of which is satisfied'. She also noted that 'Jeanne Granier remained always for her public the Charlotte of La Veine, and to Capus the well-loved, the friend of the "good years." Her technique was natural and "gauloise." She seemed the ideal woman for the mixture of optimism, amiability, even voluptuous beatitude, for the cult of Chance, and the hope of an easy love. And yet her tenderness could bring tears to Guitry's eyes.' Guitry played the role of Bréard.
Jeanne continued to act until 1925, revisiting the role of Charlotte in 1907. She was universally admired by all including the artist Renoir, but was painted by Toulouse Lautrec She received the Légion d'honneur in 1921 and died in Paris in 1939 at the age of 87. She was buried in the family vault in Montmartre cemetery.