Edouard-louis Dubufe, Large Aristocratic Portrait Dated 1856.

Large oil on canvas from the Second Empire period, painted by one of the greatest French portraitists of the 19th century, Edouard-Louis Dubufe (1819-1883). Official portraitist from 1850, he painted the emperor and his wife Empress Eugénie in 1853, "with Franz Xaver Winterhalter, he became one of the most famous portraitists of the Second Empire". Our painting is dated 1856, the same year Dubufe painted the Congress of Paris at the request of Emperor Napoleon III, "the Empress requested his participation in the decoration of her blue salon at the Tuileries Palace, where he painted her ladies-in-waiting." Edouard-Louis Dubufe delivers here one of his specialties, the very one that made him famous, a full-length portrait of an aristocrat in a rich environment, the soothing and reassuring face of the subject, the black dress and its lace, the blue silk and ermine coat thrown on the console, the pearl, coral and gold jewelry as well as the fan everything is perfectly treated and most seductive, the elegant woman is represented in a universe well marked by the Napoleon III period, she leans on a Louis XV style console in veneer, bronze and marble top on which rests in the background an Asian vase then very fashionable and to the taste of the Empress Eugénie, The background is also treated, imposing on us the wealth of the Second Empire with a large tapestry of which we can observe details including a monkey placed to the left of the painting. We acquired this painting in private hands, by tradition it comes from the Bapterosses family in Briare (45), more precisely from the collection of Jean Félix Bapterosses (1813-1885), he is a rich French industrialist who was also a politician, creator of Briare enamels, owner of the Gien earthenware factory, his name is known beyond the borders, these pearls and buttons were exported throughout the world, they were used as exchange currencies in the colonies. Following the acquisition of this painting we entrusted it for restoration to Mrs. Sophie de Joussineau, restorer in Paris for a restoration in accordance with the rules of the art. Fortunately, the frame that highlights this painting is its original frame, in wood and gilded stucco with neoclassical ornamentation. Dimensions: On sight: 129 x 90 cm On frame: 161 x 121 cm