Charles-albert De Saint-genois, Self-portrait With Three Puppets

Charles-Albert de Saint-Genois
French painter of Belgian origin
Avesnelles 1861 – 1918 Asnières-sur-Seine
Self-portrait with three of his marionettes
Oil on canvas : 62,3 X 51,2 cm
Signed bottom right “John Hewelt / (de St Genois)”
Frame : 90,1 X 79,1 cm

Provenance :
- Unsold at Sotheby’s New York, 8/11/12
Estimate : 20.000 - 30.000 $ (+ buyer’s premium)
= 15.618 – 23.427 € (+ buyer’s premium)
- Subsequently with Berko Fine Paintings, Knokke

Our rare painter was the natural son of the Belgian Baronnes Charlotte de Saint-Genois de Grand-Breucq. Under the stage name John Hewelt he was also active as a puppeteer. His astonishing, lively performances were very popular in Paris and also in London. Hewelt sculpted and painted his own marionettes that perfectly performed in the most amusing way like living creatures.

The three "gringalets" in our painting must represent King Leopold II of Belgium (1835 – 1909), the authoritarian, anti-French Italian prime minister Francesco Crispi (1818 – 1901) and the famous French cabaret singer Yvette Guilbert (1865 – 1944). Yvette Guilbert was of course regularly portrayed by the famous Post-Impressionist painter, caricaturist and illustrator Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 – 1901) who was also active at the same time as our painter in Montmartre’s cabarets and café-concerts.

All my paintings stand fully documented on my website:
https://www.jeanmoust.com/categories/art/saint-genois-charles-albert-de/self-portrait-with-three-of-his-marionettes-6027290