Portrait of Renée de Pont-Jest on the beach

Description of the artwork

Between 1875 and 1880, Louise Abbéma painted several well-known portraits of Renée de Pont-Jest. Real name Renée Delmas (1858-1902), the actress became Madame Lucien Guitry, whom she married in London in 1882 with Sarah Bernhardt as best man. The couple had two children, Jean Louis Edmond in 1884 and Alexandre dit Sacha in 1885.
Renée enjoyed a sincere friendship with Louise. The two young women met in Le Tréport as early as 1877, where they rubbed shoulders with the d'Orléans family, and from 1880, the actress joined her friend in Petites-Dalles.

Dated 1880, this is one of Louise Abbéma's earliest outdoor portraits. It shows the elegant actress strolling along the beach with her dog, a large Scottish greyhound that she is holding by the collar. Louise Abbéma's palette plays with the blues of the sea, the sky and her model's dress. Dog and woman look in the same direction, giving us a perfect profile that stands out against the sea. 

Literature

Reproduced in the Villa du Temps Retrouvé exhibition catalog, Vol 2, published in March 2025, p.125.