Madeleine Zillhardt (June 10, 1863 in Saint-Quentin, France – April 16, 1950 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) was a French artist, writer, decorator and painter. Her life and her career are linked to another artist, the German-Swiss painter

Louise Catherine Breslau Louise Catherine Breslau (6 December 1856 – 12 May 1927) was a German-born Swiss painter, who learned drawing to pass the time while bedridden with chronic asthma. She studied art at the Académie Julian in Paris, and exhibited at the salon of ...

, of whom she was the companion, the muse and the inspirer. They lived together for more than forty years, a life turned towards arts. She was the sister of painter Jenny Zillhardt.

Biography

Madeleine Zillhardt studied at the Académie Julian, art school in Paris; at the time the only institution of art education open to women in Paris. Her sister Jenny Zillhardt also studied there. She met there young artists like her: Anna Klumpke,

Hermine David Hermine Lionette Cartan David (19 April 1886 in Paris – 1 December 1970 in Bry-sur-Marne) was a French painter. Early life and education Hermine David was born in Paris in 1886. She was born out of wedlock; her mother insisted that her b ...

Agnes Goodsir Agnes Noyes Goodsir (18 June 1864 – 11 August 1939) was an Australian portrait painter who lived in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Biography Goodsir was born in Portland, Victoria, Australia, one of eleven children born to David James Cook Go ...

Sarah Purser Sarah Henrietta Purser RHA (22 March 1848 – 7 August 1943) was an Irish artist mainly noted for her work with stained glass. Biography Purser was born in Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin, and raised in Dungarvan, County Wat ...

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, and especially the "rival" of this one,

. In 1884. Zillhardt asked Breslau to make her portrait. They would not leave each other and moved permanently together in 1886. In 1887, Breslau performs 'Contre Jour', one of her masterpieces, representing the couple she formed with Zillhardt in their intimacy. The painting was bought by the

Swiss government The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

in 1896, and is today held by the Museum of Fine Arts Bern. In 1908, Breslau painted 'La Vie pensive', another work of the couple, now displayed at the

Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts The Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts (french: Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, MCBA) is an art museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Collection The museum was created by private initiative in 1841, with funds provided by the artist Marc-Louis Arlaud, who ...

in Lausanne. Zillhardt became one of the most original decorators of her time and Louise Breslau had a huge success in the world of painting. The two women become an essential couple in the Parisian art scene and receive their artist friends:

Henri Fantin-Latour Henri Fantin-Latour (14 January 1836 – 25 August 1904) was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers. Biography He was born Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-La ...

, Auguste Rodin, and Edgar Degas, of whom Zillhardt wrote a biography. During the First World War, Madeleine Zillhardt distinguished herself in the decorative arts for her "patriotic faience", in support to Clemenceau or denouncing the bombing of civilians, like ''Fluctuat nec mergitur, Paris bombed'', executed in 1918, now part of the collections of the French national Museum of Air and Space. She also went back to painting with Breslau. They painted the portraits of soldiers, nurses and doctors on the way to the front to give to their families before they leave. After the war, the health of Breslau declined until her death on May 12, 1927 in Paris. Zillhardt spent the rest of her life perpetuating the work of her companion, donating to various museums. Zillhardt did not allow the work of her partner not to be too dispersed and to appear today in the international collections.

The barge '''Louise-Catherine

In 1928, Zillhardt bought the concrete barge 'Liège' in Paris in order to make it available to the Salvation Army. With the support of Winnaretta Singer, princesse de Polignac and heiress of the company of sewing machines

Singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, the barge was rehabilitated by Le Corbusier in 1929, with his student, Japonese architect Kunio Maekawa. According to the will of Madeleine Zillhardt, the boat took the name Louise-Catherine in tribute to Breslau and became a refuge for the homeless in winter and a summer camp for children, moored in Paris on the banks of the Seine, at the

Pont des Arts The Pont des Arts or Passerelle des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. It links the Institut de France and the central square (''cour carrée'') of the Palais du Louvre, (which had been termed the "Palais des Ar ...

and at the

Pont d'Austerlitz The Pont d'Austerlitz is a bridge which crosses the Seine River in Paris, France. It owes its name to the battle of Austerlitz (1805). Location The bridge links the 12th arrondissement at the rue Ledru-Rollin, to the 5th and 13th arrondissements, ...

. In 2006, the boat was taken over the

Fondation Le Corbusier Fondation Le Corbusier is a private foundation and archive honoring the work of architect Le Corbusier. It operates Maison La Roche, a museum located in the 16th arrondissement at 8-10, square du Dr Blanche, Paris, France, which is open daily excep ...

. In 2018, it accidentally sank on February 10, during the flood of the Seine in Paris. The Louise-Catherine barge is still located at the Port of Austerlitz, in the 13th arrondissement, hoping for a renovation project.

Legacy

* A street in Paris is named ' place Louise Catherine Breslau & Madeleine Zillhardt', in the 6th arrondissement (

Saint-Germain-des-Prés Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its official borders are the River Seine on the no ...

). * In Saint-Quentin (home town of Madeleine Zillhardt), the 'Musée Antoine Lécuyer' exhibits '''Sous la lampe. Portrait de Madeleine Zillhardt.

Bibliography

* Madeleine Zillhardt''. Louise-Catherine Breslau et ses amis'', Paris, Éditions des Portiques, 1932. * Madeleine Zillhardt''. Monsieur Edgar Degas'', Paris, L'Echoppe, new edition 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zillhardt, Madeleine 1863 births 1950 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers Académie Julian alumni 19th-century French women artists 20th-century French women artists 19th-century French women writers 20th-century French women writers French lesbian artists French lesbian writers French designers French LGBT painters French people of World War I