Wanda Zielinska

Description of the artwork

This work is to be compared with many other portraits of the young girl, notably:
no. 600, Wanda Zielinska dite Pouponne assise au chapeau de paille (where she wears the same outfit as in our painting)
n°1033, Wanda Zielinska dite Pouponne or The Little Girl in the Straw Hat
n°125, Wanda Zielinska dite Pouponne au panier (available at the gallery)

When he wasn't painting commissioned portraits or portraits of his friends, Blanche called on models he found 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 onwards, her very feminine and charming physique prompting 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 by 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 February 17, 1887 and died in Sallanches on August 22, 1969. Widowed to Jean Aubé, she belonged to a well-to-do family of Polish origin who had settled in Auteuil and frequented the neighboring Blanche family. The Zielinska family is an example of the many well-to-do Polish families who came to France to flee their occupied homeland, divided between neighboring empires. The arts, and music in particular, held an essential place 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 violinist and cellist.

Arthur Kauffmann (1887-1983) was an art historian and Frankfurt director of the Berlin-based auction house Hugo Helbing. In 1937, Kauffmann was banned from holding auctions in Frankfurt because of his Jewish origins. In 1938, he emigrated to London, where he continued to trade in art, receiving British citizenship in 1947. Kauffmann's legacy is well documented, as he helped establish the E. G. Bührle Collection Foundation in Zurich. His son, Professor Michael Kauffmann FBA (1931-2023), is also known for his important career as an art historian. Professor Kauffmann first worked at the Warburg Institute, then at the Manchester City Art Gallery and, for several decades, at the Victoria & Albert Museum. In 1985, he was appointed Director of the Courtauld, where he succeeded in bringing the gallery and its institute together at Somerset House.

Origin

Former collection of Dr. Arthur Kauffmann (1887-1983) and by descent to his son,
Professor Michael Kauffmann (1931-2023), London.

Literature

This work will be included in the Catalogue Raisonné of the works of Jacques-Émile Blanche published by Jane Roberts under no. 1541.