19th Century European Art

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Lot 58
  • 58

Paul-Albert Besnard

Estimate
18,000 - 25,000 USD
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Description

  • Albert Besnard
  • The Comédie Francaise (possibly a portrait of the actress Réjane)
  • signed A Besnard (lower left)
  • oil on panel
  • 24 by 19 1/4 in.
  • 61 by 49 cm

Catalogue Note

Gabrielle-Charlotte Reju, also known as Réjane (1856-1920), was a celebrated French actress notable for her performances in Victorien Sardou's Un père prodigue (1880) and Madame Sans-Gêne (1893).  She gained further fame for her 1894 performance in Henrik Ibsen's The Doll House and by bringing her role as Madame Sans-Gêne to the New York stage.  In 1911 Reju bought Paris'  Le Nouveau Théâtre and renamed it Théâtre Rejane holding the first French performance of Maurice Maeterlinck's L'Oiseau bleu.