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Here’s a sneak peek!

5/ an American banker and one of the founders of Banque de Paris et Pays-Bas; they had a son together in 1877 and eventually married in 1885, after which Stern legitimized their son. More on how the painting was received in the coming days!

4/ She was said to have a “mad passion for riding and horses.” Off-stage, Croizette lived in a lavish mansion at 7 rond-pont des Champs-Elysées, where she hosted a regular salon frequented by prominent aristocrats, politicians, & financiers. She was in a long-term relationship with Jacques Stern...

3/ In At the Seaside, Carolus-Duran depicted Croizette, on horseback on the beach at low tide near the resort town of Trouville. Like Bernhardt, Croizette appeared frequently in the press and was photographed many times, including in riding dress... #arthistory #academicsky #19thc

2/at the Comédie-Française. The photo is undated but I'd guess it's from the early 1870s. She was a celebrated beauty & the sister-in-law of the artist Carolus-Duran, who painted her as an amazone (equestrienne) in an 1873 painting I discuss in the book. Her sister Pauline Croizette is on the cover!

2/Only some of which made it into the book. The rest I hope to share in a public lecture at the Getty (@gettymuseum.bsky.social) when the book is out. The BNF has alternate shot from the same sitting with Nadar.

#AcademicSky #theatrehistory

8/ For more on this story and other scandals, you’ll have to read the book (available for pre-order now)!

www.bloomsbury.com/us/art-of-pa...

7/ This was treated in the press as an act of seduction by Regnault and of gallantry on the part of Boldini, with Le Voltaire joking: “Let he who has never let himself be conquered and convinced by the eyes of a pretty woman throw the first stone.”

6/ Regnault sued arguing the portrait was legally hers and that Boldini should not have the right to sell her likeness without her consent. This assertion of image rights never actually played out in the courts, as a month later Boldini capitulated and gave the work to Regnault.

5/ was such that the Journal amusant caricature of the portrait played on the dispute, showing Regnault’s horse knee deep in mud with the caption: “Miss Alice Regnault bogged down by Mr. Boldini. (25,000 francs. It’s for nothing.)”

#arthistory #caricature

4/ Regnault protested that that was not their agreement and offered to buy it rather than see it sold. Boldini then demanded 25,000 francs for the small picture; Regnault (and the newspapers) were shocked, as one critic remarked, “the leap from homage to sale is rude!” The coverage of the scandal

3/ in scale—only slightly more than two feet tall, but the drama it caused was far grander. After the Salon opened, Boldini is said to have written a note to Regnault informing her that since she was not satisfied with the portrait (how he came to believe this is unclear), he would sell it.

2/ subject, Boldini begged Alice Regnault, an actress at the Théâtre du Gymnase, to pose as an amazone (equestrienne) for him. She agreed with the understanding that the portrait would then be hers for only the “price of a smile.” The resulting portrait of Regnault riding in the Bois is quite modest