F. Baulme Fine Arts gallery presents a selection of old master drawings during the Spring 2023.
Antoine CALBET (Engayrac 1860 – Paris 1944)
« Portrait of Marie de Heredia in a train »
Black chalk, wash of grey and brown ink, highlights of white gouache on beige paper
25 x 40 cm
Signed
Draughtsman, illustrator, painter and engraver of gallant scenes, Antoine Calbet gives us here a striking portrait of Marie de Heredia, the first woman in history to win the first prize for literature of the French Academy.
Her story is as romantic as her writings: wife of Henri de Régnier, she was the lover of the writer Pierre Louÿs, with whom she had a passionate relationship for years. Disappointed for not being able to marry her, Pierre Louÿs married Louise de Heredia, Marie's sister, without ending the affair..
Antoine Calbet probably met Marie de Heredia at Pierre Louÿs' : they were friends and Calbet illustrated several of Louÿs' novels. Calbet represents a very respectable and elegant Marie de Heredia sitting in a train carriage with a spirited pencil line.