Ms Zelinska with a basket

Description of the artwork

When he wasn’t painting commissioned portraitsor portraits of his friends, Blanche used models hefound near Auteuil: Lucie Esnault, the daughter of his locksmith, Désirée Manfred or, as here, Wanda Zielinska nicknamed ‘pouponne’ whom he painted at all ages from 1892. Her very feminine and charming physique encouraged Blanche to paint her in refined outfits, against a landscape background, reminiscent of the 18th century English painters he so admired, such as Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Other paintings of Wanda can be found in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Caen and the Musée Blanche in Offranville, as well as in several private collections.

Wanda Zielinska was born in Paris on 17 February1887 and died in Sallanches on 22 August 1969.The widow of Jean Aubé, she belonged to a wellofffamily of Polish origin who had settled in Auteuiland frequented the Blanche family, who wereneighbours at the time.The Zielinska family is an example of the manywealthy Polish families who came to France to escape their occupied homeland, which was divided between neighbouring empires.The arts, and music in particular, played an essential role in Wanda’s family. Her sister Hélène was an important musician and a great interpreter of the chromatic harp. Wanda took part in some of her concerts as a violinist and cellist.

Origin

Anonymous sale, Hugo Helbing, Frankfurt, 22-24 May 1933, lot 11
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 27 October 1988, lot 112
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 3 May 2000, lot 153

Literature

Online Catalogue Raisonné by Jane Roberts,
n°RM125, «Wanda Zielinska dite pouponne au panier»