Victorine-Louise Meurent (also Meurant; February 18, 1844 – March 17, 1927) was a French painter and a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

for painters. Although she is best known as the favorite model of

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

, she was an artist in her own right who regularly exhibited at the prestigious Paris Salon. In 1876, her paintings were selected for inclusion at the Salon's juried exhibition, when Manet's work was not.

Biography

Victorine-Louise Meurent was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

on Sunday, February 18, 1844, to a family of artisans. Her mother was a

milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

and her father was a patinator of bronzes. In 1860, at the age of sixteen, Meurent began modeling in the studio of

Thomas Couture Thomas Couture (21 December 1815 – 30 March 1879) was a French history painter and teacher. He taught such later luminaries of the art world as Édouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, John La Farge,Wilkinson, Burke. ''The Life and Works of A ...

and she may have studied art at his atelier for women. Meurent first modeled for Manet in 1862, for his painting ''The Street Singer''. Manet was first drawn to Meurent when he saw her in the street, carrying her guitar. She was particularly noticeable for her petite stature that earned her the nickname ''La Crevette (The Shrimp)'', and for her red hair, which is depicted as very bright in Manet's

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

copy of ''Olympia''. Meurent played the violin and the guitar. She gave lessons in the two instruments. She also sang, reportedly performing at café-concerts, a type of musical establishment associated with the Belle Époque in France, which initially were held outdoors. Meurent's name remains forever associated with Manet's masterpieces of 1863, '' Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe'' (''The Luncheon on the Grass'') and '' Olympia'', which feature nude portrayals of her. At that time, she also modeled for Edgar Degas and the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens, both of whom were close friends of Manet's. Her relationship with Stevens is said to have been particularly close. Manet continued to use Meurent as a model until the early 1870s, when she began taking art classes. Because she was drawn to the more academic style of painting that Manet opposed, Meurent and Manet became estranged. The last Manet painting in which Meurent appears is ''

The Railway ''The Railway'', widely known as ''Gare Saint-Lazare'', is an 1873 painting by Édouard Manet. It is the last painting by Manet of his favourite model, the fellow painter Victorine Meurent, who was also the model for his earlier works '' Olympia ...

'' (1873). The painting is an example of Manet's use of contemporary subject matter. Victorine-Louise Meurent (1844 – 1927)

In 1875, Meurent began studying with the portraitist . The following year, Meurent first submitted work of her own to the Salon and it was accepted. Manet's own submissions were rejected by the jury that year. ''Bourgeoise de Nuremberg au XVIe siècle'', Meurent's entry at the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

in 1879 was hung in the same room as the entry by Manet. Work by Meurent was included in the 1885 and 1904 exhibitions as well. In all, Meurent exhibited in the Salon six times. She also continued to support herself by modeling through the 1880s for

Norbert Goeneutte Norbert Goeneutte (23 July 1854 – 9 October 1894) was a French painter, etcher and illustrator; notably for the novel ''La Terre'' by Émile Zola. Biography He was born in Paris into a family that had moved there from Saint-Omer 1850.

, an artist best known for his

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s, and for

Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the l ...

. Meurent was inducted into the

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

in 1903, with the support of Charles Hermann-Leon and

Tony Robert-Fleury Tony Robert-Fleury (1 September 18378 December 1911) was a French painter, known primarily for historical scenes. He was also a prominent art teacher, with many famous artists among his students. Biography He was born just outside Paris, and st ...

, the founder of the Société. By 1906, at the age of 62 Meurent had left Paris for the suburb of Colombes, which is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

to the northwest of Paris. It is located 10.6 km (6.6 mi) from the center of the city. She lived there for the remainder of her life in a house that she owned jointly with Marie Dufour. Meurent continued to refer to herself as an artist into her seventies, as recorded in a census from 1921. At the age of 83, Meurent died on March 17, 1927. The contents of the house were liquidated after the death of Dufour in 1930. Reportedly, in the late twentieth century elderly neighbors from that commune in Colombes recalled the last contents of the house, including a violin and its case, being burnt on a bonfire.

Paintings by Meurent

Most of the paintings by Meurent have been lost, however some are in the possession of museums: File:Le briquet victorine meurent 1404718.jpg, ''Le briquet'' File:Le jour des rameaux.jpg, ''Le Jour Des Rameaux'' or
''Palm Sunday''
by Victorine-Louise Meurent (c. 1880s)
Musée Municipal d'Art et d'Histoire de Colombes File:Autoportrait-victorine-meurent.jpg, Self-portrait
by Victorine-Louise Meurent (1876)
Boston Museum of Fine Arts A painting by Meurent, ''Le Jour des Rameaux'' or ''Palm Sunday'', was recovered in 2004 and is in the Colombes History Museum in France. A self-portrait she painted in 1876 was acquired by the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

in the United States in September 2021, the first of her paintings in a museum collection outside France.

In fiction

Meurent's life inspired two historical novels and she appears as a character in several others. The Irish writer George Moore included Meurent as a character in his semi-fictional autobiography, ''Memoirs of My Dead Life'' (1906). Meurent appears in the book as a middle-aged woman, living in a lesbian relationship with a famous courtesan. Meurent is the protagonist in two novels. She appears as such in both ''Mademoiselle Victorine: a Novel'' (2007) by Debra Finerman and '' A Woman With No Clothes On'' (2008) by V R Main. She appears as a character in a novel by Christopher Moore that is titled ''Sacré Bleu'' (2012). Another novel that features her is ''Paris Red'' by Maureen Gibbon. It depicts Meurent and her relationship with Manet. It was published in 2015. Most recently, the novel ''Victorine'' is about Meurent and her journey to become a painter. It was published by Drema Drudge in 2020. In film, Meurent is featured as a character in ''Intimate Lives: The Women of Manet''. The film also is known as ''Manet in Love'' (1998). Her character is played by Shelley Phillips.

In works by Édouard Manet

File:Edouard Manet 072.jpg, ''Street Singer''
by Édouard Manet (1862)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston File:Edouard Manet 088.jpg, ''Portrait of Victorine Meurent''
by Édouard Manet (1862)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston File:Edouard Manet 047.jpg, ''Mlle. Victorine in the Costume of a Matador''
by Édouard Manet (1862)

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

File:Edouard Manet - Luncheon on the Grass - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe''
by Édouard Manet (1862–1863)
Musée d'Orsay File:Edouard Manet - Olympia - Google Art ProjectFXD.jpg, '' Olympia''
by Édouard Manet (1863)
Musée d'Orsay File:Édouard Manet - Young Lady in 1866 - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Woman with Parrot''
by Édouard Manet (1866)

File:Édouard Manet, 'The Guitar Player'.jpg, ''The Guitar Player''
by Édouard Manet (c.1866)
Hill-Stead Museum File:Édouard Manet - The Croquet Game.jpg, ''The Croquet Game''
by Édouard Manet (1873)

Städel Museum The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...

File:Edouard Manet - Le Chemin de fer - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

''
by Édouard Manet (1873)
National Gallery of Art,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In works by Alfred Stevens

File:The Parisian Sphinx by Alfred Stevens, San Diego Museum of Art.JPG, ''The Parisian Sphinx''
by Alfred Stevens (1870)

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...

References

External links

''The Naked Truth'', by V R MainSalon 1885, № 1755''Société des artistes français Salon 1904'', № 1264''Le Bulletin de la vie artistique'', 1921/05/15 (A2,N10), p.297
Gallica BnF
''La Vie parisienne : la ville et le théâtre : 1884 (à 1889) / par Parisis (Emile Blavet)'', p.122Gallica BnF ''Le Figaro (Paris. 1854)'', 1884/03/02 (Numéro 62), p.1
Gallica BnF
''L'Hôtel Drouot et la curiosité en 1883-1884'', p.173
Gallica BnF {{DEFAULTSORT:Meurent, Victorine 1844 births 1927 deaths Artists from Paris French women painters 19th-century French painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French women artists 19th-century French women artists French artists' models Édouard Manet