Aimée Brune-Pagès

Private collection, Bordeaux;

Whence sold, Bordeaux, Vasari Auction, 16 December 2023, lot 14 (as attributed to Aimée Pagès); 

Where acquired by the present owner.

Signed and dated 1826, this accomplished painting was executed when Aimée Brune-Pagès was only 23 years of age. It portrays a young woman in serene reverie as she plays the lyre, an ancient Greek stringed instrument that is the attribute of Poetry, hence the suggestion that the sitter may be depicted in the guise of the poet Sappho or Erato, the Muse of lyric poetry. The refinement of Brune-Pagès’ work is already apparent in details such as the shimmering stream at the lower right; the figure’s elegant hairstyle arranged in an Apollo knot; and her Grecian drapery – all references to classical antiquity, which exerted such a strong influence on French 19^th-century art and decorative arts of the period.

A pioneer among her contemporaries, Brune-Pagès trained under Charles Meynier (1768–1832), mastering a versatility that saw her works repeatedly exhibited at the Salon from 1822 until 1853: a period in which female painters in France were gaining unprecedented prominence. Her career is punctuated by achievements, including the award of the highly coveted médaille d’or de première classe in 1841, a rare honour for any artist. In 1826, the year in which the present painting was executed, her stature was further cemented by a state commission for a portrait of King Charles X (1757–1836). In 1839 Brune-Pagès became the first woman to exhibit at the Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans, where her work was showcased annually until her passing in 1866.