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French Friday – While you were sleeping…

October 15, 2010 By Deanna Piercy 2 Comments

I think my favorite recurring dream is the one where I discover a previously unknown room in my house.  I know I like that one better than the “naked in public” dream, or the one where the curtain is about to open and I realize I didn’t memorize my lines.  Or the one where…oh, never mind.

Anyway, when I first heard the story about the discovery of a priceless painting in a Parisian apartment which had been uninhabited for 70 years, I was captivated.  The lovely Parisian apartment in the 9th arrondissement belonged to a Mrs.de Florian who recently died at the age of 91.  She left Paris for the south of France just before World War II and never returned.  The rent was paid regularly all those years but the apartment remained untouched.

Following her death, the apartment was opened and its dusty treasures were beheld for the first time in seven decades.

Lovely antique furniture and turn-of-the-century objects filled the high-ceilinged rooms.

There was even a stuffed ostrich.

But the real treasure was this painting. (*I’ve removed the photos from the original post as I did not have permission from Getty to use them. Yes, we learn a few things along the way.)
Oh, how I’d love to see this in person.  Isn’t it gorgeous?  It turns out that this is a previously unknown painting by Italian portraitist Giovanni Boldini, known as the “Master of Swish” because of his flowing style.  The subject in the painting was Marthe de Florian, the grandmother of apartment’s owner.  It sold for an incredible €2.1 million, a world record for a Boldini painting.  
Wouldn’t you love to know the rest of this story?  Why were all these lovely things left behind?  Were there memories that Mrs.de Florian didn’t want to disturb beneath all that dust?  I do hope we will hear more about this fascinating story.

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Filed Under: French Friday, French Inspiration Tagged With: art, Boldini, discovery, Paris

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Comments

  1. Fiona says

    October 17, 2010 at 6:00 am

    What an unbelieveable story! Thanks for this post. I'm so thrilled to have found out about this lady and her apartment. The pictures are divine.

    Reply
  2. Deanna Piercy says

    October 17, 2010 at 1:47 pm

    I know. Isn't it delightful? So much "scope for the imagination" as Anne would say.

    Reply

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I’m Dee, a Francophile with a hippie heart, trying to create a beautiful life in the country while dreaming of Paris.

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