Hortense Richard

HORTENSE RICHARD (Paris,1858- Châtillon, France, 1940).
"Marguerite", c. 1880.
Hand-painted polychrome porcelain plate.
Signed in the lower left corner. Titled on the reverse.
Inspired by a painting by James Bertrand.
In its original frame.
Measurements: 28,5 x 20 cm; 43 x 33,5 cm (frame).
This work is modeled after the painting entitled "Marguerite Folle" which was presented by the painter James Baptiste Bertrand (Lyon, 1823-Orsay, 1887) at the Universal Exhibition of 1889. Several of his works achieved popularity thanks to the engravings giving rise to numerous copies, as in the specific case of this hand-painted porcelain plate. The scene represents the moment in Goethe's book Faust, tired of his old life, wishes to commit suicide. In a last fit of rage, he invokes the devil. He appears in the guise of Mephistopheles and offers him a pact: he will grant him what he most desires in the world in exchange for his servitude. Faust asks him for youth and his help in seducing Marguerite. Upon achieving his goal, bound by his contract with the devil, Faust abandons the latter, who is pregnant. Filled with remorse, he returns to her, but kills Valentin, Marguerite's brother, who tries to stop him, during a duel. Hortense Richard learned painting with Delphine de Cool, James Bertrand, Jules Lefebvre and William Bouguereau at the Académie Julian in Paris. She exhibited in Paris at the Salon of 1875 and later at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1909. He received an honorable mention at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889, then the Prix Maxime-David and a third-class medal in 1892, where he caused a sensation with La Dormeuse, a painting on ivory of imposing size. He won a bronze medal at the Universal Exposition of 1900. She also exhibited her work at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and in the Woman's Building, a pavilion dedicated to women that incorporated one hundred artists from around the world during the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.
American artists Catherine Evans, Marie Preble and Rita Potron were her students, as was Louise Ferey.