François Maurice Lard - Portrait Of The Actor Raphaël Duflos

François Maurice LARDParis, 1864 – Paris, 1908Portrait of the actor Raphaël Duflos in 1896Oil on canvas55 x 38 cm (67 x 49 cm with the frame)Signed and dated top right “FM Lard / 96”Beautiful old gilded baguettePortrait of Raphaël Duflos in 1896 the year he became a member of the Comédie Française. He is represented here as a younger man, in one of his first roles, that of Don Salluste in Ruy Blas played at the Comédie Française (Revue des Deux Mondes, September 14, 1885).A student of Worms at the Conservatoire, Émile-Henri Duflos, known as Raphaël Duflos, graduated with a first prize in Comedy. He made his debut at the Odéon in 1882, where a year later he starred alongside Albert-Lambert in the memorable creation of Severo Torelli by François Coppée. In 1884, he made his debut at the Comédie-Française in the role of Don Carlos (Hernani), then in Don Jual of Austria (the role of Philip II) and Ruy Blas (successively Ruy Blas and Don Sallust). Between 1887 and 1894, he played modern seducers and leading men of melodrama on the boulevards. He returned to the Comédie-Française in 1894 and was appointed a member of the Comédie-Française in 1896 (he then played Alceste in The Misanthrope, Octave in The Caprices of Marianne, Louis XIII in Marion Delorme, Dom Juan in Henri III and his Court). Appointed professor at the Conservatoire in 1910, his students included Maurice Escande and Annie Ducaux. He retired in 1924 and was appointed an honorary member of the Comédie-Française in 1925. "Raphael Duflos, secretary in 1896, first prize winner, student of Worms, did not have the patience to wait for his appointment as a member; he left the Comédie-Française where he had successfully played Don Sallust [and Ruy Blas] in Ruy Blas, and Philip II in Don Juan of Austria, and where a brilliant future probably awaited him. Among his various creations on stages other than that of the Vaudeville, where he distinguished himself in Renée, le Père and l'Affaire Clémenceau, and especially in Mensonges, let us recall Barnabo Spinola, by Severo Torelli, at the Odeon. Duflos has warmth and strength; his acting is sober and correct. He is an actor of real talent that the management of the Gymnase has managed to attract. (Actors and Actresses of Paris, by Adrine Larique, 29th edition, 1897)