Joséphine Gaujelin
painter
Edgar Degas
(Paris, 1834 - 1917, Paris)
Date1867
Place MadeFrance, Europe
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions61.2 x 45.7 cm (24 1/8 x 18 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP1e4
eMuseum ID718530
EmbARK ObjectID10729
TMS Source ID6
Last Updated10/2/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryJoséphine Gaujelin (or Gozelin) was a dancer at the Opéra in Paris and later an actor at the Théâtre du Gymnase. Degas used her as a model on several occasions, for example as a ballerina in his Classe de danse (Metropolitan Museum of Art). In this portrait, she appears in street clothes, sitting in her dressing room. Wrapped entirely in black, she sits rigidly, with arms clenched to her sides. The dour expression and reserved demeanor belie her reputation as a charismatic beauty. The portrait is almost deliberately unglamorous, although the intensity of the sitter’s gaze is compelling, if not disconcerting to some viewers. Gaujelin, who had commissioned the portrait, rejected it. However, Degas exhibited it in the Paris Salon of 1869 (titled Portrait de Mme G...). Mrs. Gardner heard that Gaujelin was angry that it was coming to America.
Isabella Stewart Gardner was not a collector of Impressionism, but Degas was an exception, undoubtedly because of his serious attention to historical painting. She may have seen his paintings at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exhibition in 1893. In addition to this portrait, Mrs. Gardner also owned a drawing of a ballet dancer and four other drawings.
Source: Richard Lingner, "Portrait of Joséphine Gaujelin," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 195.
Isabella Stewart Gardner was not a collector of Impressionism, but Degas was an exception, undoubtedly because of his serious attention to historical painting. She may have seen his paintings at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exhibition in 1893. In addition to this portrait, Mrs. Gardner also owned a drawing of a ballet dancer and four other drawings.
Source: Richard Lingner, "Portrait of Joséphine Gaujelin," in Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 195.
BibliographyNotesMinestère de la Maison de L'Empereur et des Beaux-Arts. Salon de 1869. Exh. cat. (Paris: Palais des Champs-Elyse?es, 1869), p. 90, no. 661. (as "Portrait of Mme G...")
John La Farge and August F. Jaccaci (eds.). Noteworthy Paintings in American Private Collections. vol. 1. (New York, 1909, reprint 1979), pp. 160-161, 247-254. (as "Portrait of a Woman")
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 124. (as "Madame Gaujelin")
Stuart Preston. "Madame Gaujelin" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 52. (as "Madame Gaujelin")
Jean Sutherland Boggs. Portraits by Degas (Berkeley, 1962), pp. 30-32.
Richard T. Dickinson. "Degas' Madame Gaujelin." Fenway Court (Dec. 1967), pp. 57-67, ill. 58.
George L. Stout. Treasures from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1969), pp. 48-49.
Rollin van N. Hadley et al. "Berenson and Mrs. Gardner: The Museum Years." Fenway Court (1974), p. 8.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 72-76.
Rollin van N. Hadley (ed.). The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner 1887-1924 (Boston, 1987), pp. 331-34, 357, 362, 370, 439-41, 443, 454, 455, 461.
Ann Dumas. Degas's Mlle. Fiocre in Context. (Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1988), p. 41.
Hilliard Goldfarb and Susan Sinclair. Isabella Stewart Gardner: Woman and the Myth. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1994), pp. 28-29.
Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall. Degas and the Dance. Exh. cat. (Detroit: Detroit Institute of Art and Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2002), pp. 47-50, pl. 48.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 194-95.
Jane Munro. Degas: A Passion for Perfection. Exh. cat. (Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017), p. 60, fig. 46.
Jasper Warzecha. "Porträt" in Markus Bertsch and Karin Schick für die Hamburger Kunsthalle (ed.). Impressionismus: deutsch-franzӧsische Begegnungen (Weyertal, Kӧln: Wienand, 2021), p.73-75.
Autumn Brown, "The Misattributed Ballerina: Louis Kronberg or Edgar Degas?" Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 15 November 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/misattributed-ballerina-louis-kronberg-or-edgar-degas
Stephan Wolohojian and Ashley E. Dunn. Manet/Degas. Exh. Cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Paris: Musee d'Orsay, 2023), p. 280, fig. 46.
John La Farge and August F. Jaccaci (eds.). Noteworthy Paintings in American Private Collections. vol. 1. (New York, 1909, reprint 1979), pp. 160-161, 247-254. (as "Portrait of a Woman")
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 124. (as "Madame Gaujelin")
Stuart Preston. "Madame Gaujelin" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 52. (as "Madame Gaujelin")
Jean Sutherland Boggs. Portraits by Degas (Berkeley, 1962), pp. 30-32.
Richard T. Dickinson. "Degas' Madame Gaujelin." Fenway Court (Dec. 1967), pp. 57-67, ill. 58.
George L. Stout. Treasures from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1969), pp. 48-49.
Rollin van N. Hadley et al. "Berenson and Mrs. Gardner: The Museum Years." Fenway Court (1974), p. 8.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 72-76.
Rollin van N. Hadley (ed.). The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner 1887-1924 (Boston, 1987), pp. 331-34, 357, 362, 370, 439-41, 443, 454, 455, 461.
Ann Dumas. Degas's Mlle. Fiocre in Context. (Brooklyn Museum of Art, 1988), p. 41.
Hilliard Goldfarb and Susan Sinclair. Isabella Stewart Gardner: Woman and the Myth. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1994), pp. 28-29.
Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall. Degas and the Dance. Exh. cat. (Detroit: Detroit Institute of Art and Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2002), pp. 47-50, pl. 48.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 194-95.
Jane Munro. Degas: A Passion for Perfection. Exh. cat. (Cambridge: Fitzwilliam Museum and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017), p. 60, fig. 46.
Jasper Warzecha. "Porträt" in Markus Bertsch and Karin Schick für die Hamburger Kunsthalle (ed.). Impressionismus: deutsch-franzӧsische Begegnungen (Weyertal, Kӧln: Wienand, 2021), p.73-75.
Autumn Brown, "The Misattributed Ballerina: Louis Kronberg or Edgar Degas?" Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 15 November 2022, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/misattributed-ballerina-louis-kronberg-or-edgar-degas
Stephan Wolohojian and Ashley E. Dunn. Manet/Degas. Exh. Cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Paris: Musee d'Orsay, 2023), p. 280, fig. 46.
MarksNotesSigned and dated (upper left): Degas 1867
ProvenanceNotesIn the collection of the dealer Michel Manzi (1849–1915), Paris.
The dealers Eugene Glaenzer & Co, Paris and New York by 1904.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Eugene Glaenzer & Co, New York on 18 March 1904 for $30,000 through Bernard Berenson (1865–1959), American art historian.
The dealers Eugene Glaenzer & Co, Paris and New York by 1904.
Purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from Eugene Glaenzer & Co, New York on 18 March 1904 for $30,000 through Bernard Berenson (1865–1959), American art historian.
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