Portrait Of A Young Woman With Lilies By Paul De La Boulaye (1849 - 1926)

The portrait of a beauty with lilies as a symbol of innocence was executed in 1903 by the French painter Paul de La Boulaye, whose full name was Charles Antoine Paul Georgette du Buisson de La Boulaye (Bourg-en-Bresse 1849 - Moulins 1926).

Here is his biography from the French Wikipedia:
A student of Bonnat, he specialized in genre scenes, portraits, and historical and religious painting. Two of his paintings – The Shepherd Mother (1884) and The Baptism of the Orphan (1884) – are exhibited at the Anne-de-Beaujeu Museum in Moulins. Paul de La Boulaye was the son of Eugène Georgette du Buisson de La Boulaye (1810-1888) and Adrienne de Graindorge d'Orgeville de Mesnil-Durand (1811-1859). His paternal grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Georgette du Buisson (1781-1856), Viscount of La Boulaye, had been secretary general of the royal household, then intendant of the civil list and deputy under the Restoration; Louis XVIII made him a hereditary viscount on January 8, 1820. His maternal family was a family of officers.Exhibitions: First exhibition at the Salon[edit | edit source code] He exhibited religious paintings at the Salon from 1873 (David, The Martyrdom, The Adoration of the Shepherds). "Peasant" Salon. He gradually oriented his painting towards regional references, first Bresse (At the Sermon, Souvenir de la Bresse, 1879), then Bourbonnais (The Baptism of the Orphan, 1884), where his characters wear local costumes and have features corresponding to the inhabitants of the region. His themes then became peasant. In the second half of the 19th century, he evolved towards academicism and adhered to the values of work, economy and moral order. He was awarded at the 1889 Universal Exhibition for "The Poultry Merchants of Bresse" and received a medal. Marriage in 1881. In 1881, he married Constance Chabot (1857-1895), from a family of notable Bourbonnais, whose father was mayor of Toulon-sur-Allier. She gave him offspring. His marriage linked him to the Bourbonnais family, to which he later owed a significant part of his inspiration (La Mère Auberger, symbole de la tradition, Le Baptême de l'orphelin, Le Chapeau bourbonnais). He should not be confused with a painter of the same name, Paul de La Boulaye (1902-1961), who belonged to another family (Les Lefebvre de La Boulaye).

Bibliography: E. Benezit, “Dictionary of painters, sculptors, decorators and engravers”, Paris, 1999; Thieme/Becker, Leipzig, 1999, Catalogue of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Inscription: signed and dated 1903, top right.

Technique: oil on canvas. Gilded salon frame.

Dimensions: unframed: l 55 x h 68.5 cm; framed: l 95 x h 107.5 cm.

Condition: in very good condition.