Henriette Browne

Sophie de Bouteiller was born in Paris on June 16, 1829, to the Comte de Bouteiller and his wife. Her father was an amateur musician and her mother an accomplished singer. Browne attained a privileged position in society because of her father, who descended from an old Breton Family. She insisted that Sophie study music and drawing, and she was homeschooled by the Countess and other tutors in their Paris home. In 1849, Sophie decided to pursue more serious study in drawing by becoming a pupil of Monsieur Emile Perrin, who later became the director of Theater-Francais. In 1851, Sophie entered Monsieur Charles Joshua Chaplin’s class for female artists. Here she had the opportunity to study from live models, gaining indispensable knowledge on the depiction of body proportions and movements. Henriette Browne married Monsieur Henry Jules de Saux, a French diplomat and secretary of Count Walewski, in 1853. Browne accompanied her husband on the many trips that his job required, traveling extensively to places such as Italy, Holland and Constantinople. These voyages proved to be vital to her artistic formation, exposing Browne to new environments. The trip to Constantinople was of particular importance, as it was during this trip that she visited a Turkish harem, gaining firsthand experience on what this private space was truly like. It is believed that this experience contributed to the unique manner in which she would later portray the Orient in her paintings and engravings. By 1879 Browne had largely given up exhibiting, and could look back upon a productive career as an internationally sought genre and Orientalist artist. She became an honorary member of London's Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours in 1894. Henriette Browne had a successful career as an artist and although many of her works are untraced, the surviving works in private collections testify to her popularity. Today, her paintings offer an intervention into the type of 19th century Orientalism that largely catered to and reaffirmed the status of the dominating male gaze. She died in 1901 in Paris. ==Early career and work==

Browne's early work consisted of portraiture, domestic genre scenes, and French religieuse. Her capacity for realism was evident at the beginning of her career. She next exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in 1855, where she immediately became a success. All five of her paintings were sold including Ecole de Pauvres a Aix purchased by Emperor Napoleon. ==Orientalism==

The nineteenth century saw a dramatic increase in Orientalist fascination, particularly in France and Great Britain. She represented female labor, sexuality, and space, and prioritized the female gaze. Because of her female gender, Browne was able to personally interact with the Eastern harem and its inhabitants, witness the gender politics that governed the harem, and depict the interaction among women in the harem that other male artists could not. Representations of the Eastern harem by male artists were largely based on fantasy as men could not enter these womanly spaces, therefore their sexuality was exaggerated to conform to male fantasies. Her ability to visit a harem allowed her to paint harem scenes differently than men. She does not objectify the women, but rather presents a calm and controlled domestic space, excluded men from the scenes, and painted with a more subdued color palette (Inge 13). Browne's greatest contribution was that she debunked cultural and sexual myths about the harem as she desexualized and domesticated the site. Browne's paintings were uncontroversial in terms of style and were truthful representations of female community that broke with male Orientalist tradition. ==Reception of work==

Browne's paintings had popular appeal. Her work fetched high prices and attracted influential patrons such as Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie in the 1850s. Browne's works were celebrated, as they broke with the male Orientalist tradition but were also uncontroversial in terms of style. The artist's reputation among critics as a serious artist was never under threat. Britain Browne's early genre scenes of nuns and children were exceedingly popular in Britain despite the widespread anti-Romanism at the time. After its success at the Paris Salon of 1859, her painting Les Soeurs de Charité was shown in London, where it was identified as a masterpiece. The painting commenced her successful reputation in Britain. The English liked the painting especially for its strong moral message; To him and other English art enthusiasts, a person who can paint scenes of moral value must be of good moral stature him or herself. It was not about her gender, but rather her technique and the moral content of her works. The article on Browne in the English Woman's Journal in 1860 further enhanced her reputation. The article portrayed Browne as a professional artist and a good wife and mother. It stressed her position as a diplomat's wife without compromising her aptitude and attentiveness as an artist. The article also went into further detail on her paintings. In 1859, she also had her own exhibition at the French Gallery in Pall Mall owned by Gambart, who continued to exhibit her work years after. By 1860, at least eight of her works had been purchased by the English. France Browne became well established in France as well. In 1855, she exhibited five works at the Exposition Universelle, all of which were sold. In 1855 and 1857 Browne was awarded third-class medals for painting at the Paris Salon. While her early paintings proved to be highly successful and were well received and established her as an artist, they weren't significant enough to allow her to excel in the genre of French religious painting. Her later fame was more closely attributed to her Orientalist paintings. Browne's first Orientalist subjects exploded onto the French art scene in 1861. The two paintings called Interiors immediately received critical coverage. This was the first and last time she painted this type of scene. After these two paintings, she continued to produce Orientalist subjects of children, schools, scholars, and individuals of Oriental society. Her Orientalist paintings continued to be popular in France throughout her lifetime. == Selected works ==

Browne, Henriette - The Sisters of Mercy - 1859.JPG|The Sisters of Mercy (1859) La Religieuse-Henriette Browne.png|La religieuse (1859), National Museums Liverpool Henriette Browne Nuns.jpg|Religieuses au travail dans un couvent Henriette Browne Mutter Kind.jpg|''La mère et l'enfant'' Une Beauté Orientale 1861, Henriette Browne.jpg|Une beauté orientale (1861), private collection La Captive Grecque, Henriette Browne.jpg|La captive grecque (1863), National Gallery Henriette Browne - La belle Juive.jpg |La belle Juive (1865) Henriette Browne 1.jpg|Fellah nord africaine (1867), private collection Browne, Henriette - A Girl Writing; The Pet Goldfinch - Google Art Project.jpg|Enfant écrivant (circa 1870), Victoria and Albert Museum File:A Moorish Girl with Parakeet-Henriette Browne.jpg|A Moorish Girl with Parakeet (1875), Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum Portrait de Femme 1877, Henriette Browne.jpg|Portrait de femme (1877), private collection File:Christchurch art gallery Henriette Browne 1857.jpg|"La Lecture de la Bible" 1857 photographed in Christchurch Art Gallery ==See also==