Madeline Lemaire
(1845-1928)
Madeleine Lemaire was a pupil in Paris of the artists Madame Herbelin and of Charles Chaplin. Lemaire was a painter in watercolour and oils of still-lives of flowers, especially roses, genre scenes and portraits. In 1864, she made her debut in the Paris salon where she was to exhibit throughout her life, winning awards in 1877 and 1900. She also exhibited at the Société des Aquarellistes from 1879. Lemaire illustrated many books, notably those of Marcel Proust. e.g., Les plaisirs et les jours and Les fleurs á travers les âges. Proust wrote of her, “ C’est elle qui a crée le plus de roses après Dieu”.
Lemaire was a great Hostess of the Belle-Epoque period and entertained many artistic figures of that time, for instance, Dumas Fils, Anatole France, Reynaldo Hahn, Jules Lemaître and it was at her house that Proust met, Robert de Montesquiou, one of the inspirations for the character Charlus.
Lemaire enjoyed enormous success during her lifetime as a painter so much so that she was known as the Empress of Roses.
In 1906, she was decorated with the Légion d’honneur.
Museums:
Dieppe
Mulhouse
Toulouse