Guillaume DUBUFE (Paris, 1853 - Buenos Aires, 1909) Cinderella Pastel on paper mounted on canvas Signed and dated 'G. Dubufe. 1896' on the right (Mottling and small stains) Cinderella, pastel on paper laid down on canvas, signed and dated, by G. Dubufe 63.78 x 37.01 in. 162.0 x 94.0 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale; Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Me Jean-Albert Desprès, 12 February 1969 ; Acquired at this sale by Gérard Lévy ; Gérard Lévy Collection; Then by descent Exhibitions: Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-arts, Paris, Palais de l'Industrie, April - May 1897, cat. no. 1407: "Cinderella". L'Art et la Vie en France à la Belle Époque, Île de Bendor, Fondation Paul Ricard, September - October 1971, cat. no. 207: "Cendrillon" [label on reverse]. Bibliography: Silvestre, Armand, Le Nu au Salon du Champ de Mars, E. Bernard & Cie, 1897, cat. no. 1407 Baschet, Ludovic, Le Panorama, Salon de 1897 - N° 10, Photographies de Neurdein Frères, Paris, Ludovic Baschet, 1897: "Cendrillon". Thiébault-Sisson, François, "Ateliers d'artistes", Le Figaro illustré, May 1898, photographed in the artist's studio, p. 99. Schurr, Gérald, 1820-1920 / Les Petits Maitres de la Peinture / Valeur de Demain, Editions de la Gazette, 1969, reproduced on p. 87: "Virginité". Jullian, Philippe, Le Nu 1900, Paris, André Barret éditeur, 1976, reproduced p. 29 Born into a dynasty of artists, whose father Édouard and grandfather Claude-Marie had achieved great renown as portraitists over the century, Guillaume Dubufe turned away from the family tradition to embark on a career in interior design. A pupil of Cabanel at the Ecole des Beaux-arts, he produced a number of major decorations, including the ceilings of the buffet at the Gare de Lyon, the Sorbonne library and the foyer of the Comédie Française, as well as the Salle des fêtes at the Élysée Palace. Exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-arts in 1897 (cat. no. 1407), our large pastel is one of the artist's greatest graphic achievements, and was given pride of place in his studio when photographed to illustrate an article by Thiébault-Sisson in Le Figaro illustré. Based on avenue de Villiers (in what is now the Musée Henner), Guillaume Dubufe was at the height of his fame, having won a gold medal at the 1889 Universal Exhibition and been made a knight of the Legion of Honour the same year. By accompanying his bare blonde Cinderella, wearing only her pink shoes, with several long stems of white iris, the traditional symbol of purity, patience and innocence, the artist appropriated the codes of a symbolism that was as erudite as it was seductive. Guillaume DUBUFE (Paris, 1853 - Buenos Aires, 1909) 162.0 x 94.0 cm Born into a dynasty of artists, whose father Édouard and grandfather Claude-Marie had achieved great renown as portraitists over the course of the century, Guillaume Dubufe turned away from the family tradition to embark on a career in interior decoration. A pupil of Cabanel at the Ecole des Beaux-arts, he produced a number of major decorations, including the ceilings of the buffet at the Gare de Lyon, the Sorbonne library and the foyer of the Comédie Française, as well as the Salle des fêtes at the Élysée Palace. Exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-arts in 1897 (cat. no. 1407), our large pastel is one of the artist's greatest graphic achievements, and was given pride of place in his studio when photographed to illustrate an article by Thiébault-Sisson in Le Figaro illustré. Based on avenue de Villiers (in what is now the Musée Henner), Guillaume Dubufe was at the height of his fame, having won a gold medal at the 1889 Universal Exhibition and been made a knight of the Legion of Honour the same year. By accompanying his bare blonde Cinderella, wearing only her pink shoes, with several long stems of white iris, the traditional symbol of purity, patience and innocence, the artist appropriated the codes of a symbolism that was as erudite as it was seductive.