Academy Fine Paintings

Description

This is a very large fine Victorian oil painting depicting a young society beauty at the turn of the 19th century by the eminent French Royal Academy and Paris Salon painter Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (1845-1902). ‘Madeleine’ is signed by the artist, and also titled and dated 1901. This important full-length portrait by one of the world’s foremost society painters of the period hangs in a newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf neoclassical frame.

As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished.

In the final quarter of the 19th century Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant was one of the world’s leading painters of Orientalist scenes and society portraits – the favourite artist of the English aristocracy – whose patrons included Queen Victoria and the Pope. North American tycoons queued-up with patriarchs of the English nobility to commission portraits of their wives and daughters. The full-length portrait being sold here being a superb example.

Today, the rich and famous dream of being photographed by Mario Testino or Annie Leibovitz, back in 1900 they wanted to be painted by Benjamin-Constant, and his society portraits brilliantly convey the individual personality of the sitter.

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1896, made a commander of the Legion d’Honneur, and with Jean-Léon Gérôme foundered the Société des Peintres Orientalistes Français. Paintings by Benjamin-Constant are held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Dimensions: (framed) 150cm x 116cm (59” x 45¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 131cm x 98cm (51½” x 38½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf neoclassical swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang. We do not sell dirty, damaged or unframed works of art.
Conservation: Where necessary the paintings we sell are cleaned and restored by Fine Art Restoration (est.1974) or Simon Gillespie Studio, as seen on BBC Television's 'Fake or Fortune' and 'Britain's Lost Masterpieces'.

About AFP
Academy Fine Paintings is an international fine art dealership based in Buckinghamshire, England. We specialise in 19th century British and European oil paintings by some of the most important artists of the period, from Victorian landscapes and subject pictures to Belle Epoque portraits and Orientalist scenes.

Condition
Clients should always bear in mind that the vast majority of paintings we deal in are antiques - works over 100 years old and frequently older – and will therefore invariably retain some evidence of aging, historical damage and repair. During its lifetime a 150-year old oil painting may well have been exposed to extremes of heat or cold, intrusion of water, bumps, cuts and natural age-related deterioration, all of which require restoration. Whilst our conservator is one of the most eminent in the UK, no restorer can reverse time and every sign of ageing and natural deterioration, therefore anyone wishing to purchase a painting that looks like new should think about buying a new painting rather than an antique one.