Xavier MATHIEU
ANTONIO DE LA GANDARA (1861-1917)

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Antonio de La Gandara - Bassin du Luxembourg
Antonio de La Gandara - The Luxembourg Basin - 1899 - Oil on canvas in its original tulip leaf frame [detail] - Private collection © expert's archives

THE ARTIST Antonio de La Gandara, born Antoine Henri Pierre de La Gandara on December 16, 1861   Antonio de la Gandara was born in Paris to an English mother and a Spanish father from Mexico. A student at Condorcet, like his brother who would later join Sarah Bernhardt's troupe, the young Antonio dedicated himself to painting, joining the classes of Gérôme and Cabanel at the École nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1879. For his first exhibition at the Artistes Français in 1882, he was noticed, according to Robert de Montesquiou, by Albert Besnard for his Saint Sebastian. It was following this encounter with the famous dandy of the Pavillon des Muses that the artist's reputation was established. In the history of Belle Époque painting, La Gandara is recognized as a society painter, having immortalized the greatest figures of that era: Sarah Bernhardt, Liane de Pougy, the Countess de Noailles, or Infanta Eulalia, among others, and for the gentlemen, Robert de Montesquiou, Boniface de Castellane, Edmond de Polignac, Jean Lorrain, or Prince de Sagan… This classification is, however, restrictive if one overlooks his still lifes, delicate pastels, magnificent park and garden landscapes, and Symbolist experiments. In a 35-year career, La Gandara participated in 140 exhibitions, and his output is estimated at a thousand works. Awarded several times, he was decorated with the Order of Isabella the Catholic and made an officer of the Legion of Honor by Alfred Roll. A witness of his time, he maintained extensive epistolary exchanges with writers: Edmond de Goncourt, Alphonse Daudet, Jean Lorrain, Anatole France, Marcel Proust, Camille Mauclair, Henri de Régnier, Paul Fort, Pierre Louÿs, An admirer of women's fashion, he became president of the Association des Peintres costumiers de la mode, created to support the profession. But, as with many things, the First World War brought a halt to projects in gestation, and he passed away in 1917.     THE EXPERT Xavier Mathieu, the origin of a passion   Xavier Mathieu is the great-nephew of the painter Antonio de la Gandara (1861-1917) through his widow Charlotte Saint André (1879-1968), his maternal grandmother's sister. Charlotte, Xavier Mathieu's godmother, spent her final days with her sister in the Mathieu family. It was in this environment that the last testimonies about the painter's work and life were collected. When Xavier Mathieu came into possession of his ancestor's works through inheritance, he began a work of remembrance that led him to meet the artist's descendants from his first marriage. They also held part of the history and a significant number of works. The research then made considerable progress.   Studies and publications After twenty years of research conducted jointly with the artist's great-grandson, Xavier Mathieu published the first richly illustrated biography of the artist in 2011, featuring 400 photos of works and family memories. Encouraged and supported by the hundred or so identified collectors, Xavier Mathieu then set about organizing a major retrospective for the centenary of the artist's passing. The Hôtel Lambinet in Versailles hosted this event in 2018 and 2019, allowing the public to admire 124 works made available by 43 lenders, including the museums of Beauvais, Orsay, the Petit-Palais in Paris, the Château Royal de Blois, the Château d'Azay-le-Ferron, and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Marseille. The Catalogue Raisonné of Antonio de la Gandara's work still needed to be completed, which is currently underway and should be published soon. Nearly 800 works are listed and documented with a catalog reference, correspondence, a period review, and (in the best cases) a photographic report. This scholarly compilation will thus constitute for art history the work of remembrance that this artist deserved.   Bibliophile and collector Xavier Mathieu is a lover of the 19th century, which he continues to explore in search of clues about the life and work of his ancestor. A member of the Société d’Histoire de l’Art français, he was appointed Knight of the National Order of Merit in 1992. www.lagandara.fr

Bibliography

Reference works: Xavier Mathieu “Antonio de La Gandara, a Witness of the Belle Époque” Éditions Illustria -Librairie des musées, 2011 Xavier Mathieu “Antonio de La Gandara - Gentleman-Painter of the Belle Époque (1861-1917)” Éditions Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2018   Collective works: The Proceedings of the Colloquium “Jean Lorrain (1885-1906) – Around and About”, November 26, 2005 “Inverses”, Société des Amis d’Axieros – Jean Lorrain Dossier, 2007 “The Colette Dictionary” under the direction of Jacques Dupont and Guy Ducrey, 2018

Contact

Xavier MATHIEU
292 boulevard de la Plage 33120 Arcachon +33 (0)6 09 82 71 09 xavier.mathieu@wanadoo.fr www.lagandara.fr

[UFE number : 479]

UFE Xavier Mathieu devant le portrait de la veuve