Please read description and look at photos carefully. Be sure to refer to our terms and conditions and ask any and all questions before making a purchase. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS: PLEASE READ IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE PURCHASING. Thank you!
Original oil painting on thin wood panel signed Mary Kollock (Virginia/New York artist, 1840-1911)
The painting is signed in the lower left portion and is inscribed on the back.
Likely created circa mid to late 19th century, possibly while Kollock studied in Paris at the Académie Julien. She also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia under Robert Wylie, as well as the Academy of Design and the Art Students League, in New York.
The board measures approximately 10.5x 7.27 inches. The frame is 12x 8.75 inches.
The painting appears to be in overall very good condition considering its age: Not inspected outside of the original mounting. Two small spots on the board (above signature). The frame is worn, delicate, and has losses. Please refer to photos. The painting will look even more beautiful with a new frame!
As inscribed on the back of the panel, the composition shows an archway of vibrant green trees, which lead the eye to a view of the top of the Château de Malmaison, the former residence of Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte. This is an absolutely beautiful Impressionist style painting that pays homage to a historically significant landmark, and it will make a fine addition to any art collection.
Please read description and look at photos carefully. Be sure to refer to our terms and conditions and ask any and all questions before making a purchase. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS: PLEASE READ IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE PURCHASING. Thank you!
About the Château de Malmaison:
The Château de Malmaison is a French château situated near the left bank of the Seine, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) west of the centre of Paris, in the commune of Rueil-Malmaison.
Formerly the residence of Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, along with the Tuileries it was the headquarters of the French government from 1800 to 1802, and Napoleon's last residence in France at the end of the Hundred Days in 1815.
Joséphine de Beauharnais bought the manor house in April 1799 for herself and her husband, General Napoléon Bonaparte, the future Napoléon I of France, at that time away fighting the Egyptian Campaign. Malmaison was a run-down estate, seven miles (12 km) west of central Paris that encompassed nearly 150 acres of woods and meadows.
Upon his return, Bonaparte expressed fury at Joséphine for purchasing such an expensive house with the money she had expected him to bring back from the Egyptian campaign. The house, for which she had paid well over 300,000 francs, needed extensive renovations; she spent a fortune doing them. However, Malmaison would bring great happiness to the Bonapartes. Joséphine's daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais would call it "a delicious spot".
Joséphine endeavored to transform the large estate into "the most beautiful and curious garden in Europe, a model of good cultivation". She located rare and exotic plants and animals to enhance the gardens. Joséphine wrote: "I wish that Malmaison may soon become the source of riches for all [of France]." In 1800, she built a heated orangery large enough for 300 pineapple plants. Five years later, she ordered the building of a greenhouse, heated by a dozen coal-burning stoves. From 1803 until her death in 1814, Josephine cultivated nearly 200 new plants in France for the first time.
The property achieved enduring fame for its rose garden. Empress Joséphine had the Belgian artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840) record her roses (and lilies), and prints of these works sell quite well, even today. She created an extensive collection of roses, gathering plants from her native Martinique and from other places around the world. She grew some 250 varieties of roses. From the foreword to Jardin de la Malmaison (1803):
Birds and animals of all sorts began to enrich her garden, where they were allowed to roam free among the grounds. At the height of her days at Malmaison, Joséphine had the company of kangaroos, emus, black swans, zebras, sheep, gazelles, ostriches, chamois, a seal, antelopes and llamas to name a few. Some were from the Baudin expedition.
After her divorce from Napoléon, Joséphine received Malmaison in her own right, along with a pension of 5 million francs a year, and remained there until her death in 1814. Napoléon returned and took residence in the house after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo (1815), before his exile to the island of Saint Helena. After Josephine's death in 1814, the house was vacant at times, the garden and house ransacked and vandalised, and the garden's remains were destroyed in a battle in 1870.
In 1842, Malmaison was purchased by Queen mother Maria Christina, widow of King Ferdinand VII of Spain. She lived there with her second husband Agustín Fernando Muñoz, Duke of Riánsares (made a duke by his step-daughter, Isabella II of Spain, in 1844). In 1861, Maria Christina sold the property to Napoleon III, Josephine's grandson through her daughter Hortense.
Malmaison was fully restored by the famous French architect Pierre Humbert in the early 20th century. It is now considered an important historical monument.
The public can visit the manor house as a Napoleonic musée national. The museum lies on RN 13 (route nationale 13) from Paris and bus 258 from RER A "Grande Arche" station.
About Mary Kollock:
Landscape, still life, and portrait painter and sculptor, Mary Kollock was born in Norfolk, VA in 1840. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy, the Art Students' League, and in Paris, and began exhibiting at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1864, and at the National Academy in 1866. The artist spent most of her life in New York City, where she died in 1911.
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