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Victorine Meurent 1844 - 1927

Victorine Meurent was born on February 18, 1844 at Paris, France, and died at age 83 years old on March 17, 1927 at Colombe, France. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Victorine Meurent.

Victorine Meurent

February 18, 1844

Paris, France

March 17, 1927

Colombe, France

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Victorine Meurent Victorine Meurent (1844 - 1927)

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Victorine Meurent's History: 1844 - 1927

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Introduction

Victorine-Louise Meurent (also Meurant) (February 18, 1844 – March 17, 1927) was a French painter and a famous model for painters. Although she is best known as the favourite model of Édouard Manet, she was also 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 Born in Paris to a family of artisans (her father was a patinator of bronzes, while her mother was a milliner), Meurent started modeling at the age of sixteen in the studio of Thomas Couture and may also have studied art at his women's atelier. 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, which earned her the nickname La Crevette (The Shrimp),[4] and for her red hair, which is depicted as very bright in Manet's watercolor copy of Olympia. As well as playing the guitar, Meurent also played the violin, gave lessons in the two instruments, and sang in café-concerts. Meurent's name remains forever associated with Manet's masterpieces of 1863, The Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia, which include nude portrayals of her. At that time she also modeled for Edgar Degas and the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens, both close friends of Manet. 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 and they became estranged, as she was drawn to the more academic style of painting that Manet opposed.[citation needed] The last Manet painting in which Meurent appears is Gare Saint-Lazare (Not to be confused with Monet's painting of the same name), painted in 1873, which is often referred to as The Railway. The painting is considered the best example of Manet's use of contemporary subject matter. In 1875, Meurent began studying with the portraitist fr:Étienne Leroy. The following year, Meurent first submitted work of her own at the Salon and was accepted. Ironically, 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 in 1879, was hung in the same room as the entry by Manet. Work by Meurent also was included in the 1885 and 1904 exhibitions. In all, Meurent exhibited in the Salon six times. She also continued to support herself by modelling through the 1880s for Norbert Goeneutte, an artist best known for his etchings, and for Toulouse-Lautrec, who took to introducing her as Olympia. Meurent was inducted into the Société des Artistes Français in 1903, with the support of Charles Hermann-Leon and Tony Robert-Fleury, the Société's founder. By 1906 Meurent had left Paris for the suburb of Colombes, where she lived with a woman named Marie Dufour for the remainder of her life. The two appear to have shared ownership of their house. In her eighties she continued to refer to herself as an artist, as recorded in a census from that time. Meurent died on March 17, 1927. After the death of Dufour in 1930, the contents of the house were liquidated; in the late twentieth century, elderly neighbours recalled the last contents of the house, "including a violin and its case, being burnt on a bonfire." [If you believe French people would throw a violin into a bonfire, you would have to be insane. It's just another lie spread by a jealous and mediocre art student or art historian!] A painting by Meurent, Le Jour des Rameaux or Palm Sunday was recovered in 2004 and now hangs in the Colombes History Museum. She was given a medal by the French government usually awarded to war heroes. I have researched her life for 40 years and hundreds of lies have been published about her by people who were either drunk or had very little talent. Some art historians spelled her name wrong on purpose [Victorine Meurand] although it is clearly listed as Victorine Meurent. Some writers had her drunk and dead at the age of thirty when she clearly lived to be eighty-three years old! As a person with a huge library about "Nellie Bly" I have met mediocre writers who have never published anything significant who said that Nellie Bly died poor and friendless. She died with 2 funerals, $60,000 in the bank, a portfolio of stocks, famous friends, and had a fantastic life as an author and a journalist. Amanda S. Stevenson
02/18

1844

Birthday

February 18, 1844

Birthdate

Paris, France

Birthplace

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Early Life & Education

In 1875, Meurent began studying with the portraitist fr:Étienne Leroy. The following year, Meurent first submitted work of her own at the Salon and was accepted. Ironically, 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 in 1879, was hung in the same room as the entry by Manet. Work by Meurent also was included in the 1885 and 1904 exhibitions. In all, Meurent exhibited in the Salon six times. She also continued to support herself by modeling through the 1880s for Norbert Goeneutte, an artist best known for his etchings, and for Toulouse-Lautrec, who took to introducing her as Olympia. Meurent was inducted into the Société des Artistes Français in 1903, with the support of Charles Hermann-Leon and Tony Robert-Fleury, the Société's founder. By 1906 Meurent had left Paris for the suburb of Colombes, where she lived with a woman named Marie Dufour for the remainder of her life. The two appear to have shared ownership of their house. In her eighties she continued to refer to herself as an artist, as recorded in a census from that time. Meurent died on March 17, 1927. After the death of Dufour in 1930, the contents of the house were liquidated; in the late twentieth century, elderly neighbours recalled the last contents of the house, including a violin and its case, being burnt on a bonfire. A painting by Meurent, Le Jour des Rameaux or Palm Sunday was recovered in 2004 and now hangs in the Colombes History Museum. In fiction Victorine Meurent's life has 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). She appears as a middle-aged woman past her prime, living in a lesbian relationship with a famous courtesan. Meurent is the protagonist of both Mademoiselle Victorine: a Novel (2007) by Debra Finerman and A Woman With No Clothes On (2008) by V R Main and is a character in Christopher Moore's novel Sacré Bleu (2012). She is also a character in the film Intimate Lives: The Women of Manet, aka Manet in Love (1998) and is played by Shelley Phillips.
03/17

1927

Death

March 17, 1927

Death date

Unknown
Cause of death

Colombe, France
Death location

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Victorine Meurent lived exactly as long as the average family member when died at the age of 83.

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20 Memories, Stories & Photos about Victorine

Victorine Meurent, Norbert Goeneutte painting.

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent, Norbert Goeneutte painting.

A photo of Victorine Meurent in a Norbert Goeneutte painting.. She lived in the USA for seven years. Of course there was one researcher who said "a few months" but all they had to do was write down the dates she was not in France.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Karina Kampe

15 favorites

01/18/2024

2 years, not seven. where did you find seven?

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent, Metropolitan Museum

A photo of Victorine Meurent in the Metropolitan Museum in NYC

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent, Street Singer

A portrait of Victorine Meurent in the painting the Street Singer - she was a violin and guitar teacher.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent

A photo of a painting - Some say this isV ictorine Meurent

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Victorine Meurent in this Railway painting

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent in this Railway painting

A photo of Victorine Meurent with a book and a puppy on her lap. Notice the long hair. She was a natural redhead.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent

Victorine Meurent turned into a brunette by Degas. She posed for Degas's Girl in a Red Peignoir. Degas would fall in love with some girl and then retreat. He loved women in action, so any model could suggest a "busy" pose and he would go for it. He had money and was strictly an indoor painter.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent and Manet

A Degas portrait of Victorine Meurent and manet who is holding her violin. Notice the same chair used where she was playing her guitar. Manet played piano. That is why he is only holding it. And Degas was friends with Manet and Meurent. She modeled for at least 3 paintings for Degas.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent portrait

A portrait of Victorine Meurent by Degas. Please remember the chair.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent

A portrait of Victorine Meurent

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

10/17/2017

Victorine Meurent

A painting of Victorine Meurent

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Victorine Meurent's Family Tree & Friends

Victorine Meurent's Family Tree

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Victorine Meurent Feb 18, 1844 - Mar 17, 1927

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About the AncientFaces Community

Victorine Meurent 1844 - 1927

Victorine Meurent's History: 1844 - 1927

Introduction

Birthday

Early Life & Education

Death

20 Memories, Stories & Photos about Victorine

Victorine Meurent's Family Tree & Friends

Victorine Meurent's Family Tree

Victorine's Friends

Other Biographies