Marthe de Florian

Madame Marthe de Florian born as Mathilde Héloïse Beaugiron was a little-known French demimondaine (courtesan) during the Belle Époque. She was known for having famous lovers including Georges Clemenceau (before becoming the 72nd Prime Minister of France), Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau (the 68th Prime Minister of France), Paul Deschanel (11th President of France), Gaston Doumergue (13th President of France), and the Italian artist Giovanni Boldini, who painted her on today's beautiful portrait. Her story resurfaced when in 2010 her belongings were discovered in her Parisian apartment, located at 2 square La Bruyère (in the 9th arrondissement), untouched for decades, like in a time capsule. Among the many paintings discovered in the apartment was a portrait depicting Marthe de Florian herself in a beautiful pink muslin evening dress, painted by one of her lovers, the artist Giovanni Boldini. The portrait had never been listed, exhibited or published, however a visiting card with a scribbled love note from the painter was found in the apartment, and a short reference found in a book from 1951 commissioned by the artist's widow Emilia Cardona also confirmed the provenance of the painting. According to the book, the work was painted in 1898, when the actress was 34 years old. After its rediscovery and subsequent research into its provenance, the painting was put to auction with a starting price of €300,000, but the sale price rocketed as ten bidders pushed the final price to €2.1 million, a world record for the artist.