PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ROSALYND C. PFLAUM Rosalynd C. Pflaum was a noted author, philanthropist and collector who learned the French language as a young girl and became a lifelong admirer and scholar of French history and culture. Her curated collection of works on paper includes the most acclaimed of French artists, most notably a small drawing by Édouard Manet of Mademoiselle Juliette Dodu (lot 101), the first woman to be awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur for her heroism in the Franco-Prussian war. In 1978, shortly after acquiring this portrait of Odilon Redon’s sister-in-law, Mrs. Pflaum was similary honored by the French government and awarded the Legion of Honor. In 1936, she met Minnesota native Leo R. Pflaum, a young executive in the family owned clothing company which became M.L. Rothschild-Young Quinlan Company. She began her college studies at Stanford University, where she was admitted at the mere age of sixteen. Upon her marriage, Mrs. Pflaum continued her college education at the University of Minnesota and became one of the first women in the State to obtain her pilot's license. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude in 1945 and a Master's Degree in 1954 from the University. The following year, Mrs. Pflaum acquired vibrant watercolours by André Derain (lot 104) and Paul Cézanne (lot 106). A French scholar, she wrote six biographies: Madame de Stael (1954); The Emperor's Talisman (The Life of the Duc de Morney) (1954); By Influence and Desire (The Grand Duchess of Courland and her Daughters) (1984); Grand Obsession (Madame Curie and her World ) (1989); Marie Curie and Her Daughter Irene (1991); and Talleyrand (2010), when she was 93 years old. She and her husband were long-time supporters of the arts, in particular the Minnesota Orchestra, where she served on its board as a life director. They regularly entertained visiting artists, who added their signatures to the walls of their family's guest bathroom. During the Second World War, she served locally in the Red Cross, driving a blood mobile. In 1949, she was one of the founders of the Women's Association of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (WAMSO), and served as its president for the first five years. She later inaugurated WAMSO's Young Artist Competition, WAMSO's 58-year-old education program, and until her death supported its annual scholarship award. Christie’s is delighted to be offering a selection of works from her beloved collection, which includes the lots on the following pages. Additional works on paper from the Estate of Rosalynd C. Pflaum include a drawing by Diego Rivera to be offered in the Latin American Paintings sale, November 2014; works on paper by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot to be offered in the January 2015, Old Master Drawings sale; and a portrait by Mary Cassatt to be offered in March 2015, American Paintings sale.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Mademoiselle Juliette Dodu

Details

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
Mademoiselle Juliette Dodu
brush and black ink and pencil on tracing paper
6 1/8 x 4 7/8 in. (15.4 x 12.3 cm.)
Executed circa 1880

Provenance

Suzanne Manet, Paris (by descent from the artist); Estate sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 4-5 February 1884, lot 147.
Alphonse Portier, Paris (acquired at the above sale).
Camille Pissarro, Paris; Estate sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 3 December 1928, lot 69.
Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, New York (by 1959).
Acquired from the above by the late owner, April 1962.

Literature

F. Lochard, Album de Photographies, Paris, 1883, vol. III, no. 182 (illustrated).
A. Chatté, "Notes sur Manet, V. la vente Manet en 1884," Journal des curieux, 10 March 1907, p. 13.
R. Raoul, "New York Letter, The Taste for Drawings," Apollo, July 1962, p. 411 (illustrated; titled Portrait of Victorine Meurend).
M. Bodelsen, "Early Impressionist Sales, 1874-1894," Burlington Magazine, June 1968, p. 342, no. 147.
A. de Leiris, The Drawings of Edouard Manet, Berkeley, 1969, p. 124, no. 420 (illustrated, fig. 339; titled Portrait of Victorine Meurend).
D. Rouart and D. Wildenstein, Edouard Manet, Catalogue raisonné, Geneva, 1975, vol. II, p. 158, no. 430 (illustrated, p. 159).

Exhibited

Paris, Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Exposition des oeuvres de Edouard Manet, January 1884, no. 176.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Drawings of Five Centuries, April-May 1959, no. 98 (titled Portrait of Victorine Meurend).
New York, Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, French Master Drawings, Renaissance to Modern, February-March 1959, no. 91 (illustrated; titled Portrait of Victorine Meurend).
Minneapolis, University Gallery, University of Minnesota and New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Nineteenth Century, One Hundred and Twenty-Five Master Drawings, May-July 1962, no. 75.
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Drawings and Watercolors from Minnesota Private Collections, May-June 1971, no. 21 (illustrated; titled Portrait of Victorine Meurend and dated circa 1870).

Brought to you by

Morgan Osthimer

mosthimer@christies.com +1 212 641 5074

Lot Essay

This beautifully rendered ink drawing depicts the legendary heroine of the Franco-Prussian war, Juliette Dodu. In 1878, she was the first woman to become Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in recognition of her acts of courage during the war. Manet's thoughtful study of Mademoiselle Juliette Dodu calls attention to this unprecedented honor by depicting the medal prominently on her chest. When the Pithiviers telegraph office of southern France was relocated to her mother's house, Dodu intercepted Prussian transmissions and relayed the messages back to the French army. It is estimated that her efforts during the war of 1870 saved nearly 40,000 soldiers. Though condemned to death for her acts of espionage, Dodu was saved by the armistice and died many years later in the home of her brother-in-law, the artist Odilon Redon.

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