Louise Ward

Louise Ward
1885 portrait by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta
Born(1849-07-09)9 July 1849
Parma, Italy
Died11 February 1930(1930-02-11) (aged 80)
Paris, France
Other names
  • Louise Dubréau
  • Louise Dubreau
  • Louise de Ward
  • Marquise d'Hervey de Saint-Denys
  • Marquise d'Hervey de Saint-Denis
  • Louise de Waru
  • Madame de Waru
  • Comtesse de Waru
OccupationPainter
Years active1875–1899[1]
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1868; died 1892)​

​
​
(m. 1896; died 1911)​

Louise Ward, sometimes rendered Louise de Ward[2] (9 July 1849 – 11 February 1930),[3] known in the art world by her pseudonym Louise Dubréau or Louise Dubreau, was a French painter and Parisian society belle.

She was married twice: in 1868 to the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys, who died in 1892, and in 1896 to Count Jacques de Waru, who died in 1911. Marcel Proust, in his In Search of Lost Time, based the character of the Princesse d’Orvillers, also called the Princesse de Nassau, on her.

Early life and education

Ward was born on 9 July 1849[3] in Parma, Italy,[3][a] where her father had been stationed as chief minister of the Duke of Parma.[5] Burke's Peerage of 1850 and thereafter indicates that her birth name was Elizabeth Margaret Ward.[6][7][b]

She was an Austrian baroness who was the daughter of Baron Thomas Ward[3][10][c] and his wife Louise Genthner, a Viennese commoner whom Thomas Ward had married in 1832.[18]

She was educated in a convent school in France.[2]

Career

After her marriage to a French marquis in 1868,[3] Ward became an accomplished and successful painter in Paris, studying with Pierre Auguste Cot.[2] She signed her paintings "Louise Dubréau",[2] sometimes rendered "Louise Dubreau"[3][19][20] or "Louise du Bréau",[21] after her husband d'Hervey's estate Château du Bréau near Dourdan[2] in Seine-et-Oise[22][23] in the department of Yvelines.[22]

Two of her best-known paintings are The Old Lodger (1877), which was exhibited at the Salon de 1877[4] and auctioned at Christie's in 2008;[24] and Printemps (1882), which was exhibited at the Salon de 1882.[25]

Her painting Chanteuse des rues (Street Singer) was exhibited at the Salon de 1878.[4] In a lengthy review, Le Correspondant described the singer as clearly dejected and abandoned, and it praised Ward's delicately nuanced depiction.[21] The Revue du Monde Catholique described the depiction as evoking the same feelings as the poor young girls that Alexandre Antigna enjoyed painting, stating "one feels pity for her and would offer her help if one were to encounter her".[26] Ward's Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) was exhibited at the Salon de 1879,[27] and was described as charming and as emphasizing candor and devotion.[28][29]

Ward's portrait of her husband, the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, was exhibited at the Salon de 1881.[30] Her portrait of Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust was widely praised and was exhibited at the Salon de 1883.[31][32][20]

Personal life

In 1868, at the age of 18, she married French sinologist Marie-Jean-Léon, Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys.[3] Her title became Marquise d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, sometimes rendered Marquise d'Hervey de Saint-Denis.[2] The couple lived in Paris in their mansion at 9 Avenue Bosquet.[33][2][34]

In Paris, Ward became a society belle (mondaine)[2][35] and a grande dame,[2] and was known as a great beauty.[35][19][21][2] Marcel Proust, in his multi-volume novel series In Search of Lost Time, based the Princesse d’Orvillers,[36] also known as the Princesse de Nassau,[15] on her.[36][37][22]

Ward's great benefactor in France was the Duchesse de Luynes[38][2] (1849–1905), also known as Yolande de La Rochefoucauld[39] or Yolande Dalbert.[2] The duchess was also a painter and a fellow student at the studio of Pierre Auguste Cot, where they met.[2] The two became lifelong friends and companions.[38][40]

Her first husband, Hervey de Saint Denys, died in 1892.[41][42][43]

In 1896, Ward remarried, to French aristocrat and Olympic equestrian Count Jacques de Waru (1865–1911).[3] He was described by contemporaries as "a very militant young royalist";[44] his family had been close to the French monarchy since its restoration in 1804, and his grandfather, Adolphe, had made a personal fortune in banking and served as a regent of the Banque de France from 1856 to 1871.[45]

Ward died in Paris in February 1930,[46] at the age of 80.[3]

She is buried in a large decorative tomb in the small cemetery of the Romanesque church Saint-Ferréol in Saint-Forget in the department of Yvelines.[40]

Notable works

  • Ne dine jamais en ville [Never dine out] (known in English as The Old Lodger) (1877)[2]
  • Chanteuse des rues [Street Singer] (1878)[4][2][21]
  • Jeanne d'Arc (1879)[2][27]
  • Marchand de marrons [Chestnut Seller] (1880)[47]
  • Printemps (1882)[25]
  • Ne dine jamais en ville [Never dine out], known in English as The Old Lodger (1877)
  • Printemps (1882)

Notes

  1. ^ Some French sources, dating from 1877 or thereafter, state that she was born in Vienna,[4] where her father had been sent in 1849 by the Duke of Parma as minister-plenipotentiary to represent the duchy, and where Emperor Franz Joseph I conferred on him the Austrian title of Baron.[5]
  2. ^ French sources, which all date from her 1896 second marriage and thereafter, give her name as Louise Marguerite Elisabeth Ward.[8][9]
  3. ^ Several published sources state that Ward was said to be the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Parma.[11][12][13][14] At least one French society chronicle said that as an infant, she was baptized by the Duke and Duchess of Parma.[2][15] Likewise, Marcel Proust's character based on her, the princess d'Orvillers (later called the Princess of Nassau), is described in his Sodom and Gomorrah (1921) as "said to be the illegitimate daughter of the Duke of Parma".[15][16][13][17]

References

  1. ^ "Dubreau, Louise". Getty Research Institute. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Vento, Claude (1886). "La Marquise d'Hervey de Saint-Denis". Les grandes dames d'aujourd'hui [The Great Ladies of Today]. Dentu. pp. 359–366.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Louise Ward". Geneanet. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Explication des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure, et lithographie des artistes vivants. Salon de 1878. 1878. p. 69.
  5. ^ a b Marquis de Ruvigny, ed. (1909). The Nobilities of Europe (PDF). London: Melville and Company. pp. 168–169.
  6. ^ Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, Volume 10; Volume 12. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1850. p. 1098.
  7. ^ Burke's Peerage (1858). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. H. Colburn. p. 1118.
  8. ^ Révérend, Albert, ed. (1897). Annuaire de la Pairle et de la Noblesse de France, des Maisons Souveraines de l'Europe et de la Diplomatie. E. Plon, Noirrit et cie. p. 458.
  9. ^ Révérend, Albert (1904). Titres, Anoblissements et Pairies de la Restauration 1814-1830, Volume 4. Honoré Champion. p. 257.
  10. ^ "mariage act p. 10/31"
  11. ^ Fouquières, André Becq de (1953). Mon Paris et ses Parisiens, Vol. I (in French). Paris: Pierre Horay. pp. 104–105. Le fils de ce couple fort austère, Jacques, devait contracter mariage avec une très belle et très fortunée personne, son aînée de plus de quinze ans, qui passait pour être la fille naturelle du dernier duc de Parme, et qui était la veuve d'un membre de l'Institut, professeur au Collège de France, le marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys. ... La nouvelle Mme de Waru ne fut jamais reçue rue Lincoln, mais le Monde lui fut moins sévère que sa belle famille et je me souviens l'avoir maintes fois rencontrée à la chasse, dans les tirés de Dampierre où elle était l'hôte du duc de Luynes. L'auteur de Swann, si friand de scandales mondains, n'a pas manqué d'épingler dans son album Mme de Waru à qui il fait allusion en divers passages de son ouvrage. [The son of this very austere couple, Jacques, contracted to marry with a very beautiful and very wealthy woman, more than fifteen years his senior, who was said to be the natural daughter of the last Duke of Parma, and who was the widow of a member of the Institute, professor at the Collège de France, the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys. ... The new Madame de Waru was never received on Rue Lincoln, but le Monde was less harsh on her than her in-laws, and I remember meeting her many times while hunting, in the outings at Dampierre where she was the guest of the Duke of Luynes. The author of Swann, so fond of society scandals, did not fail to include Madame de Waru in his album, to whom he alludes in various passages of his work.]
  12. ^ Villoteau, Pierre (1968). La vie parisienne à la Belle époque. Cercle du bibliophile. p. 112.
  13. ^ a b Painter, George D. (1977). Marcel Proust: A Biography. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-14-055131-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  14. ^ Girod de L'Ain, Gabriel (1977). Les Thellusson: histoire d'une famille du XIVe siècle à nos jours. G. Girod de l'Ain. p. 287.
  15. ^ a b c Monaci, Ludovico (8 November 2022). "La Marquise d'Hervey de Saint-Denys dans la Recherche: Une Tromperie Mondaine sous le Changement Onomastique?" [The Marquise d'Hervey de Saint-Denys in the Search: A deception of society under the change of name?]. Il Nome nel testo – Rivista internazionale di onomastica letteraria (in French) (2022: XXIV): 145–156. doi:10.4454/iNnt.innt.v24.871. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  16. ^ Mension-Rigau, Eric (2011). L'ami du prince: Journal inédit d'Alfred de Gramont (1892-1915). Fayard. ISBN 9782213665023.
  17. ^ Proust, Marcel (1921). Le côté de Guermantes, II; Sodome et Gomorrhe, I. Paris: Éditions de la Nouvelle revue française. p. 127.
  18. ^ Myers, Jesse (1938). Baron Ward and the Dukes of Parma. Longmans, Green & Co. p. 24.
  19. ^ a b Truth, Volume 15. Truth. 1884. p. 343.
  20. ^ a b Ribeyre, Félix (1884). Cham: sa vie et son oeuvre. E. Plon, Noirrit et cie. p. 155.
  21. ^ a b c d Le Correspondant, Volume 111. Le Correspondant. 1878. p. 803.
  22. ^ a b c Bergère, Marie-Claire (2020). Un siècle d'enseignement du chinois à l'École des langues orientales. L'Asiathèque. ISBN 9782360571581.
  23. ^ Mémoires de la Société d'Ethnographie, Volume 12. Société d'Ethnographie. 1874. p. 235.
  24. ^ "Louise Dubreau (French, 19th century): The Old Lodger". Christie's. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  25. ^ a b Catalogue illustré du Salon, 1882. Baschet. 1882. p. xxxiii.
  26. ^ "Le Salon de 1878". Revue du Monde Catholique. Paris: Société Générale de Librairie Catholique. 1878. p. 354.
  27. ^ a b Explication Des Ouvrages De Peinture, Sculpture, Architecture, Gravure, Et Lithographie Des Artistes Vivants Exposés Au Palais Des Champs-Elysées le 12 Mai 1879 (PDF) (2nd ed.). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale. 1879. p. 88.
  28. ^ Baignères, Arthur (1879). "Le Salon de 1879". Gazette des beaux-arts: la doyenne des revues d'art, 2e périod (PDF). Paris: Gazette des Beaux-Arts. p. 56. doi:10.11588/diglit.22840.5. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  29. ^ Baignères, Arthur (1879). "Le Salon de 1879". Gazette des beaux-arts: la doyenne des revues d'art, 2e périod (webpage). Paris: Gazette des Beaux-Arts. p. 56. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  30. ^ F.-G. Dumas, ed. (1881). Catalogue illustré du Salon. Paris: L. Baschet. p. XIX.
  31. ^ Revue des deux mondes, Volumes 57-58. Bureau de la Revue des deux mondes. 1883. p. 617.
  32. ^ Véron, Théodore (1883). Dictionnaire Véron, ou, Organe de l'Institut universel des sciences, des lettres et des arts du XIXe siècle (Section des Beaux-Arts): Salon de 1883 (PDF). Paris: M. Bazin. p. 149.
  33. ^ Genève, Pierre (1992). "MARIE JEAN LÉON D'HERVEY Marquis de Saint-Denys". science-et-magie.com. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  34. ^ Darmsteter, James (1884). "RAPPORT ANNUEL FAlT À LA SOCIÉTÉ ASIATIQUE, DANS LA SÉANCE DU 27 JUIN 1884" (PDF). tpsalomonreinach.mom.fr. p. 155. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  35. ^ a b Revue Britannique: Choix d'articles traduits des meilleurs écrits périodiques de la Grande-Bretagne. 1886, Volume 1886, Issue 3. Revue Britannique. 1886. p. 82.
  36. ^ a b Mension-Rigau, Eric (2011). L'ami du prince: Journal inédit d'Alfred de Gramont (1892-1915). Fayard. ISBN 9782213665023.
  37. ^ Yu, Pauline (2014). "Judith Gautier and the Invention of Chineze Poetry". In Kroll, Paul W. (ed.). Reading Medieval Chinese Poetry: Text, Context, and Culture. Brill Publishing. p. 257. ISBN 9789004282063.
  38. ^ a b "Another Duke Coming". The Waco Times-Herald. 30 August 1902. p. 1. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  39. ^ "Yolande de La Rochefoucauld". Wikidata. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  40. ^ a b Chevalier, Florence (31 October 2013). "'La mémoire de Chevreuse' dénoue le secret de la tombe Belle Époque" ['La mémoire de Chevreuse' Unravels the Secret of the Belle Époque Tomb]. Actu.fr. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  41. ^ Henri Cordier (1892). Necrologie: Le Marquis d'Hervey Saint Denys . T'oung Pao- International Journal of Chinese Studies. Vol. 3 No. 5, pag. 517-520. Publisher E.J. Brill/Leiden/The Netherlands.
  42. ^ Alexandre Bertrand (1892). Annonce du décès de M. le marquis Léon d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, membre de l'Académie.(Transl.: Announcement of the death of Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, member of the Academie). Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Vol. 36, Issue 6, page 377.
  43. ^ Alexandre Bertrand (1892).Paroles prononcées par le Président de l'Académie à l'occasion de la mort de M. le marquis d'Hervey-Saint-Denys. Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Vol. 36, Issue 6, pages 392-397.
  44. ^ Reinach, Joseph (1904). Histoire de l'Affaire Dreyfus, Volume 4 [History of the Dreyfus Affair, Volume 4] (in French). Eugène Fasquelle. p. 584.
  45. ^ "Jacques de Waru". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  46. ^ "ONIROLOGUES: Léon d'Hervey (de Saint-Denys)". Oneiros. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  47. ^ Catalogue Illustré du Salon. L. Baschet. 1880. p. 23.
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