Portrait Of A Lady With A Fan By Felix Henri Giacomotti (1828-1909)

superb portrait of an elegant woman wearing a hat and holding a fan by Felix Henri Giacomotti (1828-1909) famous French painter who was Italian by his parents. When he was young he studied at the drawing school in Besançon then at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1854 he won the Prix de Rome and went to study at the Villa Medicis. When he came back to Paris he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon between 1859 and until his death in 1909. He won numerous prizes and awards. He specialized in historical and religious scenes but also painted portraits and nudes. Then he received many public orders, including one for a ceiling in the Luxembourg Museum which is now in Bourges. He also painted for several churches including the church of Notre Dame des Champs in Paris and the church of Quingey where he was born. He was appointed director of the school of fine arts and the museum of Besançon. He received the Legion d'honneur in 1867.
Several of his paintings can be seen in Paris the museum of Orsay and in  the Fine Arts School of Paris and also in Strasbourg and Besançon. 

The canvas measures 92cm high by 73cm wide and with the frame the painting measures 119cm high by 101cm wide Note a small old restoration at the bottom of the painting but invisible on the painted side . Superb gilded frame with some old stickers showing that the portrait was exhibited in a Salon.

 In painting this portrait Giacomotti could have been influenced by the english school as he travelled in Britain at the end of the 19th century and brought back some preparatory drawings where we find this lady 

signed lower left