Edouard DUBUFE (1819-1883) and GODEFROY - Lot 69

Edouard DUBUFE (1819-1883) and GODEFROY Portrait of Baron Gustave de Rothschild Oil on canvas, signed lower left and numbered 162 on the stretcher. 110 x 150 cm. (Two pieces on the back, traces of humidity). Early 19th century gilded frame. Edouard Dubufe was one of the Second Empire's most illustrious society portraitists, a kind of French Winterhalter. In particular, he worked with Paul-Auguste Godefroy for Baron James de Rothschild, under the direction of Eugène Lami. Traces of this collaboration can be found at Château de Ferrières and Château de Boulogne, near Paris. In 1857, this trio of artists created four portraits of members of the Rothschild family in Boulogne, in the form of over-doors. The dimensions and post-1859 date of our canvas (attested by the stamp on the back of the color dealer Jérôme Ottoz, from whom Degas purchased his supplies) rule out its being part of the Boulogne series - as confirmed by Lami specialist Madame Caroline Imbert. There can be no doubt that the figure in our sumptuous allegory is Gustave-Samuel-James de Rothschild (1829-1911). The third child of James and Betty de Rothschild, Gustave managed the Chemin de Fer du Nord and the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée (PLM) railway company. He shared the presidency of MM. de Rothschild Frères with his brother Alphonse. A member of the Consistoire central israélite de France, of which he was to become president, he founded an Israelite elementary school in Paris. He was involved in the family's philanthropic activities, in particular the Rothschild hospital, of which he was appointed director. A great lover of music and art, he owned a Rembrandt, a Frans Hals and Limoges enamels, among other works. A photograph by Eugène Disderi, dated 1860, confirms our identification, Gustave being easy to recognize by his beard and side-curls of hair, which gave him a Renaissance air (illustration). Why would a man from the Second Empire have himself portrayed in 16th-century garb? After the Gothic fad, the period was one of Renaissance revival (the word had just appeared). We must also take into account the pioneering taste of James de Rothschild and his dynasty for Haute Epoque collections. The composition of books on Gustave's right, no doubt incunabula with parchment or worn leather bindings, is probably a reference to the Rothschild collections. The medallion portrait of Baron Gustave is by Edouard Dubufe. It is part of an architectural trompe-l'oeil, enriched by a crimson drapery and an impressive still life of flowers and objects by Godefroy. But the picture's conception seems characteristic of Eugène Lami. Lami, a favorite painter of the Orléans family under the July Monarchy, designed several grand settings for the Rothschilds, and depicted their palaces and parties in his magnificent watercolors of interiors. A promoter of the eclectic style that characterized the 19th century, he had already decorated Chantilly for the Duc d'Aumale. His decorations feature colonnades opening onto the sky, or effigies of characters in historical costumes, set in medallions adorned with flowers, objets d'art and draperies. It remains to be seen where our painting was to be installed. Gustave de Rothschild appears to be in his thirties. It is therefore unlikely that the work was painted for the two hotels he acquired in 1869 on rue de Marigny and rue du Cirque, the combination of which resulted in a vast hotel completed in 1883 (now the annex to the Elysée Palace). His Château de Laversine, near Chantilly, was not built until 1874. An earlier address is therefore to be considered. But many Rothschild residences have been destroyed or transformed, like the Hôtel de James on rue Laffitte, destroyed in 1969, or the Château de Boulogne, abandoned after 1945.