Rambure, Comtesse de

 

 

Impressionism, the partakers of the expositions:

Comtesse de Rambure

probably alias: Jacques François
probably also: Marie de Bouillé (1844-1924)

a vanished, female partaker  in 1886

 

The 18th partaker of the 8th ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1886:
Denvir, Berson and Rewald mention that during the 8th ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1886 there also was a Comtesse (=Countess) de Rambure exhibiting hc = hors catalogue = outside the catalogue. This probably was a last minute inclusion. The critic Félix Fénéon remarked sarcasticly: ‘la comtesse de Rambure of which the catalogue did not dare to mention her submissions.’ (R90I,p442;R5,p151;R90II,p250;R1,p523). This plural form ‘submissions’ indicates she showed at least two works. Fénénon his article in ‘La Vogue’ of 13-20 June 1886 was titled ‘Les impressionnistes (en 1886)’ (R2,p495), also to be found in his ‘Oeuvres’ published 1948 in Paris (R1,p544). Moffett doesn’t mention Comtesse de Rambure (R2).

 

Mme de Rambure exhibited in 1876 + 1877 (probably as Jacques François):
In a letter to Camille Pissarro (1881/01/24) Gustave Caillebotte criticised Edgar Degas of bringing with him several realist artists: ‘In 1876 Lepic and Legros and Mme de Rambure, 1877, Moreau (meaning Maureau) and again Mme de Rambure.’ (R102,p275). Assuming this Mme de Rambure is the same as Comtesse de Rambure, this would mean that she also exhibited outside the catalogue in 1876 + 77!!! Note 1: Berhaut, in her Catalogue Raisonné of Caillebotte, leaves Mme de Rambure out of her index (R102,p305). Note 2: Rewald who extensively cites this letter of Caillebotte, also leaves out Mme de Rambure (R1,p448).
In none of the sources about Impressionism I have found this information that Mme de Rambure exhibited also in 1876 and 1877. But Monneret states that Comtesse de Rambures (note: with an ‘s’) ‘seems to be the artist appearing at various impressionist exhibitions under the pseudonym of ‘Jacques-François.’ (R88I,p706). But when she writes about Jacques-François, she doesn’t make this connection (R88I,p254). Still it is well possible that Comtesse de Rambure is also Jacques François.
In a review of ‘H’ (1886/06/11) in ‘Le Journal des arts’ is written: ‘Finally, the blue woman of M. François, and we will end by regretting that most of these paintings are not more seriously finished.’ (R90I,p452) Does this mean that ‘H’ knew that Mme Comtesse de Rambure was the same as M. (Jacques) François? And does this mean, that she probably exhibited in 1886 several paintings in a more sketchy way, including a ‘blue woman’?
Because all this is not sure, I still will render a seperate page on Jacques-François.
Anyway Comtesse de Rambure is the 5th or 6th woman exhibiting at the ‘impressionist’ expositions, together with Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Marie Bracquemond, Comtesse de Luchaire (who exhibited outside the catalogue in 1874) and Jacques François (when this is a distinguishable woman) (R2,p123).

 

Comtesse de Rambure is maybe born as Marie de Bouillé:
Wikipedia (=iR4) shows there is a château de Rambures (with an ‘s’ added), but around 1886 it was inhabited by a marquise instead of a comtesse, though the tittle of the family later became ‘comtesse’; see also the official website (aR4). Another webpage about this family (aR1) mentions that (Louise Amour) Marie de Bouillé (1844-1926) in 1864 married Charles Antoine de Rambures (1839-1930).
Other webpages mark that both spellings are used, so with and without an ‘s’ (aR2;aR3). So maybe this Comtesse de Rambure is the same as Marie de Bouillé, marquise de Rambures.
When we look at the Salon database of musée d’Orsay (iR1) there is no result for Rambure; as far as I can see this also counts for her (assumed) maiden name Bouillé.

An article about Marie de Bouillé (aR1) starts with: ‘In 2009 an exceptional exhibition at the Château de Rambures in Picardy was dedicated to “Marie, an artist marquise of the 19th century”, thanks to the numerous archives discovered in the furniture of the château, archives which have since joined the departmental archives in Amiens where they can only be consulted on request from the owners of the château, great-grand-nephews and heirs of Charles Antoine de La Roche Fontenilles, Marquis de Rambures, who died in 1929 without posterity, after his wife Marie de Bouillé. (…) According to the articles and documents on the Marquise that could be found on the Internet in 2009-2010, the Marquise was a very cultured woman, passionate about painting and photography, who would have accompanied her husband, an ambassador, to several countries. When she was in France she divided her time between her private mansion in Abbeville, Paris and the Château de Rambures. (…) Marie de Bouillé, born on February 1, 1844 in Petit-Bourg (Guadeloupe), was named Louise Amour Marie. As very often in the West Indies, it is the last name, and not the first, which is the “customary name”. ‘ (aR1)
In the same article there is a painting of the Spanish painter Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz (1815-94) titled ‘Louise Amour Marie de la Roche-Fontenilles, marquesa de Rambures’ which is now in the Prado in Madrid (M101). On this picture she is painting.

The Prado writes about Marie de Bouillé (aR5;M101):
‘Louise Amour Marie de Bouillé was the last descendant of a noble family living in the French Antilles. She was born in 1844 and married in April 1864 the French Count Charles Antoine de La Roche-Fontenilles, who also used the title of Marquis de Rambures – not without controversy among his family, for taking it by the feminine way against the Gallic noble customs – from the date of his marriage. The Marquise de Rambures acknowledged that she lived in the French Embassy in Spain when she went as a copyist to the Prado Museum 1871/11/13 onwards, the year in which this painting could be dated. Thus, the portrait would be approximately twenty-eight years old, which seems to coincide with the appearance of the woman represented on the canvas. She must have been an active and restless woman, since it is known that, in addition to devoting herself to painting, at the end of her life she became interested in currents of Christian thought with naturalistic claims that led her to publish in 1899 ‘L’Église et la pitié envers les animaux‘, a compilation of religious texts (HW: in several languages, see aR9) on nature that was printed in several editions. It is not surprising, therefore, that Federico de Madrazo, director of the Prado Museum for many years, was attracted by the personality of such an exceptional copyist, whom he surely met not only at the Madrid art gallery, but also at the French embassy parties, where the painter was a regular visitor.
(The influential portrait painter would also have seen how between 1860 and 1880 other French amateurs arrived at the institution, often participating in an ambitious government project in France that sought to disseminate the masterpieces of Spanish painting in the country’s artistic learning centres for educational purposes. To do this, they relied mainly on modest copies that were sometimes commissioned by the State and sometimes offered to the State by their modest authors at prices that on their own did not compensate for the effort of the journey. ) It is possible that the Rambures took part in this great project, but it would not be strange that the Marquise made the copies on her own initiative, as part of the sophisticated entertainment to which some European ladies of her generation were assiduous. (The portrait of the Marquise de Rambures is unusual in Federico de Madrazo’s production because it offers an intermediate stage between the pointing of the natural and the finished small format portrait, made in a brief session and with the intention of being given as a gift to the portrayed person. Sitting down, almost in profile, she prepares to paint on a canvas as Tomasa Palafox did more than seventy years ago in Goya’s famous painting now in the Prado Museum (P2448). Madrazo was mainly concerned with modelling the lady’s head with a few very light strokes; the delicate intonation of the portrait, which underlines the languor of the Marquise’s features, also serves to give the work an intimate and strictly private tone, to which the evening lighting contributes. The background is only hinted at around the head, but with the specifics of the master and the scratches suggested by the Marquise’s hands show how Madrazo posed the figure with just a few brushstrokes, without using any previous drawing ).

Mme la marquise de Rambures was an educated woman:
In 1899 Mme la marquise de Rambures publishes ‘L’Église et la pitié envers les animaux‘ (aR9;aR7;aR5). The Bibliothèque National de France renders a later publication from 1903 (aR9=iR40). It is a compilation of religious texts, mostly made by religious persons, pleading for animal protection in several languages (greek, latin, french, english, german and italian). The footnotes to the text at the end of the publication, demonstrate scholarly insights. This publication also probably depicts that Marquise de Rambures did understand several languages. So we can conclude that she was an educated woman.

 

Comtesse de Rambure(s) / Marie de Bouillé, a short biography:

  • 1844/02/01: Louise Amour Marie de Bouillé was born in Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe (aR1,p3); at another page her date of birth is mentioned the 6th (aR1,p7); she was the only child (daughter) (aR1,p6)
  • 1840-49: her father Jules François Amour de Bouillé was mayor of Guadeloupe (aR1,p6), an island north of Venezuela (iR9).
  • sometime afterwards the family moved to Paris (aR1,p6)
  • before her marriage she probably lived with her parents at 17,Rue de l’Oratoire (aR1,p5), which is close to the Louvre (iR9)
  • 1864/04/26: Marie de Bouillé married Charles (Antoine) comte de la Roche Fontenilles, also called marquis de Rambures (1839-1930) (aR1,p5); they lived in the château de Rambures (aR4;iR9).
  • 1871/11/13 onwards: copied at the Prado, her husband being an ambassador in Madrid, the capital of Spain (aR5;M101)
  • 1876: Mme de Rambure exhibited at the 2nd ‘impressionist’ exposition; she was invited by Degas (R102,p275); probably under the pseudonym of Jacques-François (R88I,p706).
  • 1877: Mme de Rambure exhibited at the 3rd ‘impressionist’ exposition (R102,p275); she was not in the catalogue (R2); probably under the pseudonym of Jacques-François (R88I,p706).
  • 1881/01/24: in a letter to Pissarro, Caillebotte critisised Degas of introducing realist artists like Mme de Rambure into the ‘impressionist’ expositions (R102,p275).
  • 1866: Comtesse de Rambure exhibited at the 8th ‘impressionist’ exposition (R5,p151;R1,p523); she was not in the catalogue (R2)
  • 1886/06/13-20: Fénénon shortly mentioned her in a review (R5,p151;R1,p523)
  • 1899: Mme la marquise de Rambures published ‘L’Église et la pitié envers les animaux‘ (aR9;aR7;aR5). The Bibliothèque National de France renders a later publication from 1903 (aR9=iR40). It is a compilation of religious texts pleading for animal protection in several languages (greek, latin, french, english, german and italian). The notes with the texts at the end of the publication demonstrate scholarly insights. This publication also probably depicts that Marquise de Rambures did understand several languages.
  • 1924/03/26: Mme la marquise de Rambures died in Hyères (aR1,p7), east of Marseille along the Mediterrané.
  • 2009: exhibition at château de Rambures in Picardie (aR1,p1;aR4;aR8)

 

Sources:
My main sources are Monneret (1978-81=R88I), Berson (1996=R90), Rewald (1873=R1), Moffett (1986=R2), Denvir (1993=R5), Berhaut (1994=R102), the Salon database (iR1), Wikipedia (iR4) and the additional references (=aRx). For other general references (=R) see and the references to internet pages (=iR) see.

Additional references:

  1. ghcaraibe.org (an article about Marie de Bouillé, marquise de Rambures)
  2. pcd.Wikipedia.org (spelling of Rambure)
  3. geni.com (spelling of Rambure)
  4. www.chateau-rambures-picardie.fr  (official site)
  5. prado.es (link to the painting of Madrazo)
  6. the-athenaeum.org (link to the painting of Madrazo=iR2)
  7. amazon.com (link to her publication of 1899)
  8. debam.over-blog (blog referring to the 2009 exhibition)
  9. gallica.bnf.fr//L’Église et la pitié envers les animaux (a reprint from 1903 of her publication of 1899)

 

Recommanded citation: “Comtesse de Rambure, a vanished, female partaker of the ‘impressionist’ exposition in 1886. Last modified 2024/01/30.  https://www.impressionism.nl/rambure-comtesse-de/.”