Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (1852-1929)

This is a study of a cat executed in charcoal and pastel for the portrait of Gabrielle de Marmier (1911-1992) kept at the Château de Ray sur Saône.

This little study, with its dedication, says a lot about the complicity that developed between the model and her painter, and about Dagnan-Bouveret's poetry, humour and generosity.
It's easy to imagine this little lady, Gabrielle de Marmier (1911-1992), getting impatient during the long poses, preferring to play with the cat on her lap rather than stand still, which doesn't make the portrait painter's job any easier.


The final portrait of Gabrielle de Marmier, also executed in pastel by Dagnan Bouveret, to which our study relates, is kept at the Château de Ray sur Saône.

A former fortified castle dating from the 10th century overlooking the Saône, rebuilt in the 18th century in the classical style, it belonged to the Merode family (from 1636 to 1774) and then to the Dukes of Marmier-Choiseul before becoming the property of the Baconnière de Salverte family.
Part of it was bequeathed to the state by Diane Baconnière de Salverte, the model's granddaughter, on 29 May 2015, who died a year later without issue.