Marie-Hortense Fiquet
Marie-Hortense Fiquet Cézanne | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Saligney, France |
| Died | 1922 |
| Occupation(s) | Art model, bookseller, bookbinder |
| Known for | Muse and spouse of painter Paul Cézanne |
Marie-Hortense Fiquet Cézanne (22 April 1850 – 1922) was a French art model renowned primarily as the spouse and frequent muse of the painter Paul Cézanne. Between 1869 and the late 1890s, he produced 27 portraits of her, predominantly in oil.
Life
Fiquet was born in Saligney, France. She encountered Cézanne in 1869 at the Académie Suisse in Paris, an art institution and gathering place for artists and their models. Working mainly as a bookseller or bookbinder, she also took on modeling assignments occasionally. Their relationship commenced at this time, and during the 1871 Franco-Prussian War, they relocated from Paris to L'Estaque in southern France. To protect his financial support from his wealthy banker father, Louis-Auguste Cézanne, Paul kept their relationship and the birth of their son Paul in 1872 a secret.
The couple wed on 28 April 1886 with Paul's parents attending; however, by then it is said that his affection for her had diminished. Hortense was often characterized as demanding and spent much of their marriage living separately from Paul. Following Louis-Auguste’s death in 1886, they parted ways; Paul moved back with relatives, expressing disapproval of Hortense’s pursuits. This distance is evident in her depictions, which frequently reveal a self-centered expression.
Hortense made her home in Paris. Although Cézanne continued to paint her into the 1890s, he excluded her from his will. After his passing in 1906, their son inherited the entirety of the estate; Hortense’s portion from him was eventually lost due to gambling.
In literature
Hortense is believed to have inspired a character in L'Œuvre, a novel by Émile Zola serialized shortly before the Cézannes’ marriage. Zola, who had been a childhood acquaintance of Cézanne, had a strained relationship with him partly because of this work.
Within the novel, Christine, a model by profession, marries an artist. While the painter character bears some resemblance to Cézanne, Christine poses nude—contrasting with Cézanne’s modest portrayals of Hortense and more reminiscent of Le déjeuner sur l'herbe by Édouard Manet.
See also
Sources
- Garb, Tamar. The Painted Face, Portraits of Women in France 1814–1914. Yale University Press, 2007.
- Lindsay, Jack. Cézanne: His Life and Art. Greenwich, Connecticut: New York Graphic Society, 1969