Mme Léon Bertaux (Hélène Bertaux)

Overview

Hélène Bertaux, née Pilate, known professionally as Mme Léon Bertaux (Paris 1825 – Saint-Michel-de-Chavaignes 1909), was a French sculptor. In 1881 she founded the Union des femmes peintres et sculpteurs and was its first president until 1894; the Union held its first annual exhibition, the "Salon des femmes", in January 1882. She campaigned for women's admission to the École des Beaux-Arts and was the first woman awarded a first-class medal, at the Exposition universelle of 1889 (Wikipedia, "Hélène Bertaux" and "Union of Women Painters and Sculptors"; Ministère de la Culture, collections page "Hélène Bertaux (1825-1909)").

Relevance to Marie

• 9 February 1883 (098.0306): Marie writes to "la Présidente de l'association des femmes peintres et sculpteurs" and calls on her with Maman: "C'est le sculpteur Mme Bertaux, a eu des médailles... Mais pour l'exposition de cette année c'est trop tard... Au reste c'est une femme fort aimable, il faudra verser cinq cents francs."
• 9 June 1883 (100.0103-0107): after Marie's success at the Salon of 1883, Mme Bertaux calls, stays an hour, "me comble de compliments" and asks to enter Marie's name among the society's members; Marie grants it as "une amende honorable complète". Marie remembers the first visit as "au mois de mars"; the diary has it on 9 February.
• 2 December 1883 (102.0406): "Mme Berteaux est venue jeudi et cet après-midi je vais à l'Assemblée des femmes peintres et sculpteurs" (Marie's spelling Berteaux), to prepare the next exhibition.
• 1 March 1884 (103.0436-0445): vernissage of the Union's exhibition, where Marie shows Jean et Jacques, the Grande-Jatte landscape and the Dina pastel (glossary JEAN_ET_JACQUES); on 26 March she hears that "plus de trente personnes" have praised "mon paysage de l'Union des femmes" (103.0600).

Sources

• The diary, carnets 098, 100, 102 and 103 (French originals in `/content/_original/`)
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne_Bertaux ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Women_Painters_and_Sculptors
• Mon Journal t.15 and t.16, index of names ("Berteaux (Mme)")
• Ministère de la Culture: https://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/thematiques/musees/Les-musees-en-France/les-collections-des-musees-de-france/decouvrir-les-collections/helene-bertaux-1825-1909