Description
| Title: | Portrait of Madame M. |
| Other titles: | Portrait de Madame M. (the museum’s title) |
| Painter: | Henri Rousseau |
| Year painted: | about 1896 |
| Original size: | 198 cm x 114.5 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | naive art (primitivism) |
| Held at: | Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, ten sizes or a size made to order |
Portrait of Madame M. is a painting by Henri Rousseau, oil on canvas, dated about 1896 by the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. What you see: a full-length lady in a black dress with huge puffed sleeves and a yellow collar, standing among ferns and flowers, with a kitten playing with a ball of wool at her feet. We paint it by hand in oils, in ten sizes or to measure, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
Portrait of Madame M.
What is on the canvas?
The lady, her dark hair pinned up short, stands facing us. She wears a long black dress with huge puffed sleeves and a gathered yellow collar; her left hand rests on her hip, a pearl bracelet at the wrist, her right hangs at her side, and a closed umbrella leans beside her. Around her grow dense ferns and shrubs, white daisies and red poppies bloom at the left, and pink flowers and pansies at the lower right. At the lower right a small patched kitten plays with a pink ball of wool rolling across the path. Above it all is a cloudy sky. The signature, Henri Rousseau, is at the lower left. Another large portrait of a woman by the same painter is Portrait of a Woman.
What does the painting mean?
Rousseau stands the lady before us like a monument: life-size, facing forward, a hand proudly on her hip and a calm gaze, and around her he paints a garden in flower, plant by plant. The kitten with its ball of wool in the corner is a small domestic joke that takes some of the sternness out of the portrait. Who Madame M. was the museum’s record does not say, so we do not guess. Another Rousseau portrait with nature behind the sitter is Portrait of a Woman in a Landscape.
Which size suits which wall?
The original is 198 cm high and 114.5 cm wide, a life-size portrait; 70 x 120 cm keeps its proportion most exactly. Ten sizes are available: 45 x 80, 50 x 85, 57 x 95, 62 x 106, 66 x 110, 70 x 120, 75 x 125, 80 x 135, 88 x 146 and 90 x 160 cm. The tall, narrow format is made for the wall beside a door, a hallway or the space between two windows; for the effect of a real figure we recommend 80 x 135 cm or larger, and 57 x 95 cm for a smaller wall. Above a sofa the painting usually takes about two thirds of the width of the furniture; above a bed it should stay narrower than the headboard. Custom sizes are ordered through the made-to-order painting page, where you enter the width and height; we suggest keeping the proportion of the original and changing only the scale. A small-format portrait of a woman by the same painter is Portrait of the Second Wife of the Artist.
How is the painting made, and does it come framed?
Your canvas is begun only after you order it, and is painted by hand in oils in our workshop in Slovenia, at the size you choose. The painter lays in the cloudy sky and the leaves at the back first, then the flowers and the path, then the black dress with its sleeves and collar, and last the face, the hands, the umbrella and the kitten with its wool. We do not print, and no machine application is used, so no two versions are exactly alike. The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame and arrives ready to hang; a picture frame is not included in the price and is chosen separately. Before packing we photograph the finished painting and send you the photograph for approval; only then does it travel. A portrait of a child by the same painter is The Child with the Doll. The whole collection is in the Henri Rousseau gallery.
How is it delivered, and what do we guarantee?
We deliver to Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Germany. Depending on its size, the canvas travels rolled in a rigid tube or stretched on its frame, always in protective wrapping and as a tracked parcel. The making time depends on the size and is confirmed when you order. We guarantee that every painting is painted by hand and that you see a photograph of the finished work before dispatch; if anything in it is not as you wish, we correct it before it leaves the workshop.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original kept?
At the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
When was it painted?
About 1896, the dating the museum gives.
Is a frame included?
No. The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame and ready to hang without a picture frame; a frame can be chosen separately.
Is this a print?
No. It is painted by hand in oils, and the layers of paint can be seen and felt.
Is the painting suitable as a gift?
Yes, especially for someone who loves portraits, flowers and cats. If you would rather the recipient chose, there is a gift voucher.
- Subject: a full-length lady in a black dress with puffed sleeves among ferns and flowers; a kitten with a ball of wool at her feet.
- Original: oil on canvas, 198 x 114.5 cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris; about 1896.
- Our version: hand-painted oil, ten sizes from 45 x 80 to 90 x 160 cm or to measure, unframed, photograph before dispatch.
- Of note: the original is almost two metres tall, so the lady is painted life-size.
