Oval portrait of Louise Guesde, daughter of Jules Guesde (1845-1922), by the Spanish painter Fernando Tirado, trained at the school of fine arts in Seville, student of the painters Cano and Gérôme, and exhibitor at the Paris Salon of 1879 in 1884.
Louise Guesde, aged twelve when painted by Fernando Tirado, is the daughter of Jules Guesde (1845-1922) militant Republican journalist whose articles earned him several convictions, pushing him into exile in 1871 for having supported the Municipality of Paris. Refugee in Switzerland then in Italy, Guesde gradually approaches the philosopher Karl Marx. Back in France in 1876, Jules Guesde reconstituted the workers’ movement and launched the newspaper L’Egalité with Paul Lafargue. Guesde was one of the founders of the Parti Ouvrier in 1882, renamed the Parti Ouvrier de France in 1893. He then pursued a career in politics, deputy in 1893 for the constituency of Roubaix and reelected in 1906 until his death in Saint- Mandated in 1922.
Little Louise, represented here, married Boris Chapiro-Volpert in 1901, and, the following year, gave birth to Liliane Louise Hélène Volpert (1902-1982), future actress of the Roaring Twenties, better known under the pseudonym of Lilian Constantini, wife of the industrialist Charles Schneider (1898-1960), manager of the Le Creusot factories. Astonishing journey, in 1924, Louise married for a second time the Swiss director Jacques Robert, who had directed his daughter Liliane since 1921 in his silent films.
The painter Fernando Tirado studied at the School of Fine Arts in Seville, notably trained by Eduardo Cano (1823-1897). In 1878, the young disciple went to Paris to complete his training there, where he met Jean Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), whose studio he attended, but also José Jiménez Aranda (1837-1903). Raimundo de Madrazo (1841-1920), oriented him towards the practice of portraiture, of which he made a specialty. Apart from the portrait, Tirado is known for his genre scenes, alternately gallant or orientalist. The painter attaches great importance to the representation of luxurious interiors, a heritage of the Parisian school. He exhibited at the Salon in Paris in 1879, 1881, 1882, 1883 and 1884. This last year, he presented a “portrait of a child”. Maybe Louise’s? Permanently retired in Seville, Tirado obtained the chair of Antique and After-nature Drawing at the School of Fine Arts. He devoted himself to teaching, commissioning portraits and picturesque Andalusian scenes. Louise’s portrait reveals the skill of the portrait painter, revealing through his touch the melancholy charm of the child’s face. Tirado, in the manner of the masters of the beginning of the 19th century, meticulously renders the physiognomy of his subject, which he enhances with a few luminous touches (the flower and the brooch) lost in the middle of a neutral background and a dark garment, so that the viewer can only focus on the sweet expression of the little girl.
Portrait is signed and dated 1884.
Height 22.8 in.
Width 16.5 in.
Depth: 0,8 in.
