Lot n° 426
Estimation :
3000 - 5000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 4 940EUR
Marcel Vertes (1895-1961) - Lot 426
Marcel Vertes (1895-1961)
Portrait of Lady Mendl (circa 1940)
Oil on canvas signed lower left Vertes
H. 70.5 cm - L. 55.5 cm
Provenance :
Christie's ; Los Angeles ; Sale of September 15, 1999; lot 32.
Ella dit Elsie Anderson de Wolfe was an American actress and decorator born in New York in 1865. Coming from a wealthy New York family and Scottish on her mother's side, this young woman appeared in London society in the 1880s. In 1833, she was presented to Queen Victoria. After the death of her father in 1890, a gambling addict, she ran up many debts. Back in New York, she was obliged to work. She had begun amateur theater in 1884, but in 1885 she joined The Amateur Comedy Club in New York to earn her living. There she met Elisabeth Marbury, known as Bessy, who became her lover. In 1901, she formed her own theater company and toured for two years with an adaptation of Clyde Fitch's play The Way of the World. Her success as an actress grew. But she was also known for her carefully crafted style of dress, which earned her the title of "Best Dressed Woman in the World" in 1937. In 1905, she retired from the theatrical stage. Encouraged by Bessy, she invented the profession of decorator. She founded the Colony Club, an exclusively women's interior design club. The watchwords were simplicity, lightness and visual unity. In 1913, she published Good Housekeeping, a collection of decorating articles she had written. It was a great success with the American middle classes. She moved to France with Bessy and they bought the Villa Trianon. Elsie embarked on the restoration of the house and gardens, based on the original plan found in the archives of the Château de Versailles. During the First World War, Elsie and Bessy agreed to turn the villa into a hospital. Thanks to her commitment, she received two awards at the end of the war, including the Croix de Guerre. In 1926, she surprised everyone by marrying Sir Charles Mendl, a British diplomat. This platonic relationship did not alter her homosexual relationship with Bessy. She became Lady Mendl. She decorated their new apartment on Avenue d'Ièna, mixing past and present styles and European and American design. In 1935 she published her biography After All. During the Second World War, she returned to New York with her husband. She continued to design and decorated their Beverly Hills residence, which she named After All. In 1946, she returned to France to find the Villa Trianon in ruins. Tony Duquette helped Lady Mendl, on the eve of her 80th birthday, to restore the house. She was awarded the Légion d'honneur for her many works, including Marbury Residence, Show House, Open Gates, After Hall and the famous Villa Trianon. She died in Versailles in 1950.
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