Lot 2183 Nα

Raimundo de Madrazo was celebrated during his lifetime for his elegant portraits of high society. Not only was he one of the most respected and important Spanish painters to live in Paris during the Belle Époque period, he also won numerous awards and attracted the attention of collectors outside France, particularly in New York and London. Representative examples of Madrazo's work can still be found in the fabled mansions of prominent American families of the Golden Age, such as the Marble House and the Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island. The Vanderbilt family were perhaps Madrazo's most loyal patrons. Their society portraits are still on display at the Biltmore House Estate in North Carolina.
This previously unpublished study of the head of a young woman was only recently identified as a portrait of Miss Elsie Woodbury Brown (New York 1881-1966) (based on photographs by Prof. Dr. Maria Teresa Escohotado Ibor, Universidad del Pais Vasco, Spain). Madrazo depicted the young beauty several times. A portrait created in New York in 1899 and now owned by the Museo del Prado (fig. 1) shows her sitting in a white dress against a blue background (116 x 89 cm); another portrait from 1898 in a Spanish private collection shows her in a black lace dress with roses in her hand (see Fernando Alcolea: Modelo y amante. Sobre la idendidad del Retrato de senorea (1899) de Raimundo de Madrazo, del Museo del Prado, 2020).
Elsie Woodbury Brown was the painter's favorite model during Madrazo's time in New York and Paris. She also became his lover. At the same time, the artist had an affair with Maria Hahn from Venezuela, who became his second wife in 1899. This intimate study from 1898 may be the earliest depiction of his beloved model.
The portrait comes from an old family property in Jersey and may have been passed down through a family ancestor: Miss Lily Langtry (Jersey 1853 - 1929 Monte Carlo) was an actress who knew both Raimundo de Madrazo and Elsie Woodbury Brown during the time of their New York love affair.
Research documents created by the owner as well as a technical investigation report on the picture are available.