Madeleine Castaing
Encyclopedia
Madeleine Castaing was a French antique dealer and interior designer of international renown. She was the friend and the sponsor of many artists, including Soutine, who made her portrait in 1928. Original, even whimsical, she revolutionized the world of decoration, creating the style Castaing which is now a reference.
who built the train station
in Chartres
, Madeleine Magistry early married an heir from Toulouse
, the art critic
Marcellin Castaing. Their meeting, very romantic, had concluded by a "kidnapping" of the girl, who was barely fifteen or sixteen at the time. Twenty years older than she was, Marcellin Castaing was known for his impressive literary and artistic culture. During the fifty years of their marriage, he remained his wife's great love, according to all the couple's friends, including the writer and photographer François-Marie Banier
, who remembers "Madeleine's legendary love for her husband".
In the 1920s, Madeleine Castaing made her debuts as an actress in silent film
s, then gave up this career while being already nicknamed "the French Mary Pickford
".
At that time, her husband had offered her a neoclassical
manor
she had been longing for, in Lèves
, not far from Chartres. He wanted her to "unwind", he explained. The young woman had indeed discovered her own vocation for interior design.
Shortly after their friend Modigliani
's death, the Castaings made the acquaintance of Soutine at the Café de la Rotonde, in the centre of Montparnasse
. The first meeting was difficult: Soutine refused the 100 franc note handed to him by Marcellin Castaing in order to buy him a painting without having even looked at it. A few years later, in 1925, the Castaings could buy their first painting by this artist at Leopold Zborowski
's, the primary art dealer of Soutine and of Modigliani, and became friends with him. From 1930 to 1935, they welcomed him home during the summer in their mansion of Lèves, becoming his patron
s and main buyers. It is thanks to them that Soutine could hold his first exhibition in Chicago in 1935.
The Castaings possessed more than forty paintings by this artist, which means the most important private collection of Soutine's works. Madeleine Castaing saw in him the greatest painter of the 20th century: "Above others, he gives his hand to the Greco
and Rembrandt", she said.
Madeleine Castaing's portrait by Soutine, entitled La Petite Madeleine des décorateurs, is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York. The words "petite madeleine" refer to the "petite madeleine" of Proust, an author Madeleine Castaing was specially interested in: she spent decades reading In Search of Lost Time
again and again, fully, several times. She had discovered this work in 1913.
Generally speaking, the Castaings were patrons of artists belonging to the École de Paris and to the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
.
Madeleine Castaing was a friend of Erik Satie
, Maurice Sachs
, Blaise Cendrars
, André Derain
, Jean Cocteau
(she arranged his house of Milly-la-Forêt
), Marc Chagall
, Iché, Picasso, Henry Miller
, Louise de Vilmorin (to whom she inspired the character of Julietta in the novel of the same name) and Francine Weisweiller (for whom she decorated the Villa Santo Sospir at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
). In the 1970s, she helped François-Marie Banier
by purchasing a dozen of his photographs for 70,000 francs.
The historian and politician Michel Castaing (1918–2004), the Castaings' younger son, was a famous expert in paleography. Michel's son, Frédéric Castaing, is a specialist in autographs and also a novelist.
When Michel Castaing died, in 2004, the mansion of Lèves was sold in auction, as well as the family collection of paintings and art objects, including seven paintings by Soutine.
and Frédéric Castaing) Pierre Levallois et al., La Décoration (5e volume de la collection « Connaissance des Arts », 1963, p. 60 ) Jean-Noël Liaut, Madeleine Castaing, Mécène à Montparnasse, décoratrice à Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Payot, 2008 Lisa Lovett-Smith, Paris Interiors, Taschen Patrick Mauriès et Christian Lacroix
, Styles d'aujourd'hui, Gallimard/Le Promeneur, 1995 Barbara et René Stoeltie, Chez Elles : le décor au féminin, Flammarion, 2003, pp. 13 à 19 Suzanne Trocmé, Influential Interiors, Michtell Beazley, 1999
, 1997 Hervé Leroux, « L'appartement de Madeleine Castaing », Maison française n° 509, 2000 Anne de Royère, « Madeleine Castaing, Lla Mujer de los azules », Casas e Gente, septembre 2004 Barbara Stoeltie, « Au revoir, Lèves », photographs by René Stoeltie, The World of Interiors, 2004 Catalog of Soutine Exhibition (1963), Tate Gallery
, London Catalogue de l'exposition François-Marie Banier
, « Madeleine Castaing », Maison européenne de la photographie
, Paris, 2003 Catalogue Sotheby's
, L'Univers de Madeleine Castaing, Galerie Charpentier
, Paris, septembre-octobre 2004
Debuts
The daughter of an engineerEngineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
who built the train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
in Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
, Madeleine Magistry early married an heir from Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, the art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
Marcellin Castaing. Their meeting, very romantic, had concluded by a "kidnapping" of the girl, who was barely fifteen or sixteen at the time. Twenty years older than she was, Marcellin Castaing was known for his impressive literary and artistic culture. During the fifty years of their marriage, he remained his wife's great love, according to all the couple's friends, including the writer and photographer François-Marie Banier
François-Marie Banier
François-Marie Banier is a French novelist, playwright, artist, actor and photographer. He is particularly known for his photographs of celebrities and other public figures and for his friendships with members of high society.-Life and career:...
, who remembers "Madeleine's legendary love for her husband".
In the 1920s, Madeleine Castaing made her debuts as an actress in silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
s, then gave up this career while being already nicknamed "the French Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
".
At that time, her husband had offered her a neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
manor
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
she had been longing for, in Lèves
Lèves
Lèves is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in Northern France.-Population:-International relations:Lèves is twinned with the English village of Nailsworth, Gloucestershire.-References:*...
, not far from Chartres. He wanted her to "unwind", he explained. The young woman had indeed discovered her own vocation for interior design.
Sponsorship
Modigliani
Modigliani may refer to:* Amedeo Modigliani , painter and sculptor** Modigliani, a 2004 biographical film about the painter and sculptor* Elio Modigliani , anthropologist, zoologist, and plant collector...
's death, the Castaings made the acquaintance of Soutine at the Café de la Rotonde, in the centre of Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
. The first meeting was difficult: Soutine refused the 100 franc note handed to him by Marcellin Castaing in order to buy him a painting without having even looked at it. A few years later, in 1925, the Castaings could buy their first painting by this artist at Leopold Zborowski
Leopold Zborowski
Leopold Zborowski was a Polish poet, writer and art dealer.Zborowski and his wife Anna were contemporaries with Parisian artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Cézanne, André Derain and Amedeo Modigliani, who painted their portraits.Leopold Zborowski was Amedeo Modigliani's primary art...
's, the primary art dealer of Soutine and of Modigliani, and became friends with him. From 1930 to 1935, they welcomed him home during the summer in their mansion of Lèves, becoming his patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
s and main buyers. It is thanks to them that Soutine could hold his first exhibition in Chicago in 1935.
The Castaings possessed more than forty paintings by this artist, which means the most important private collection of Soutine's works. Madeleine Castaing saw in him the greatest painter of the 20th century: "Above others, he gives his hand to the Greco
Greco
Greco may refer to:* Greco , a list of people with this surname* El Greco , a Greek-Spanish painter, sculptor and architect* El Greco , a composition by Vangelis...
and Rembrandt", she said.
Madeleine Castaing's portrait by Soutine, entitled La Petite Madeleine des décorateurs, is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York. The words "petite madeleine" refer to the "petite madeleine" of Proust, an author Madeleine Castaing was specially interested in: she spent decades reading In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past is a novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust. His most prominent work, it is popularly known for its considerable length and the notion of involuntary memory, the most famous example being the "episode of the madeleine." The novel is widely...
again and again, fully, several times. She had discovered this work in 1913.
Generally speaking, the Castaings were patrons of artists belonging to the École de Paris and to the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
Académie de la Grande Chaumière
The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France. The school was founded in 1902 by the Swiss Martha Stettler , who refused to teach the strict academic rules of painting of the École des Beaux-Arts. It opened the way to the "Art Indépendant"...
.
Madeleine Castaing was a friend of Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
, Maurice Sachs
Maurice Sachs
Maurice Sachs was a French writer. He was the son of a Jewish family of jewelers.- Biography :...
, Blaise Cendrars
Blaise Cendrars
Frédéric Louis Sauser , better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss novelist and poet naturalized French in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the modernist movement.-Early years:...
, André Derain
André Derain
André Derain was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.-Early years:...
, Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
(she arranged his house of Milly-la-Forêt
Milly-la-Forêt
Milly-la-Forêt is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.-Geology:The Forest of Fontainebleau in the western end of which Milly-la-Forêt lies, is composed of the Oligocene Fontainebleau sands, which are a marine deposit, laid down in an intertidal...
), Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
, Iché, Picasso, Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
, Louise de Vilmorin (to whom she inspired the character of Julietta in the novel of the same name) and Francine Weisweiller (for whom she decorated the Villa Santo Sospir at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat , Italian: San Giovanni Capo Ferrato, is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It is located on a peninsula next to Beaulieu-sur-Mer and to Villefranche-sur-Mer and extends out to Cap Ferrat...
). In the 1970s, she helped François-Marie Banier
François-Marie Banier
François-Marie Banier is a French novelist, playwright, artist, actor and photographer. He is particularly known for his photographs of celebrities and other public figures and for his friendships with members of high society.-Life and career:...
by purchasing a dozen of his photographs for 70,000 francs.
The historian and politician Michel Castaing (1918–2004), the Castaings' younger son, was a famous expert in paleography. Michel's son, Frédéric Castaing, is a specialist in autographs and also a novelist.
When Michel Castaing died, in 2004, the mansion of Lèves was sold in auction, as well as the family collection of paintings and art objects, including seven paintings by Soutine.
Books
(prefaces by Jacques GrangeJacques Grange
-Biography :After completing his training at the École Boulle and the École Camondo, Jacques Grange made a career as a decorator in France and abroad from the 1970s. His main customers included Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, for whom he decorated the "Château Gabriel", in Benerville-sur-Mer,...
and Frédéric Castaing) Pierre Levallois et al., La Décoration (5e volume de la collection « Connaissance des Arts », 1963, p. 60 ) Jean-Noël Liaut, Madeleine Castaing, Mécène à Montparnasse, décoratrice à Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Payot, 2008 Lisa Lovett-Smith, Paris Interiors, Taschen Patrick Mauriès et Christian Lacroix
Christian Lacroix
Christian Marie Marc Lacroix is a French fashion designer. The name may also refer to the company he founded.-Early life:Lacroix was born in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France. At a young age he began sketching historical costumes and fashions. Lacroix graduated from high school in 1969...
, Styles d'aujourd'hui, Gallimard/Le Promeneur, 1995 Barbara et René Stoeltie, Chez Elles : le décor au féminin, Flammarion, 2003, pp. 13 à 19 Suzanne Trocmé, Influential Interiors, Michtell Beazley, 1999
Reviews
Hervé Joubeaux et Pierre Falicon, Le Temps retrouvé chez Madeleine Castaing, photographies de Claire Flanders, musée des Beaux-Arts, ChartresChartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
, 1997 Hervé Leroux, « L'appartement de Madeleine Castaing », Maison française n° 509, 2000 Anne de Royère, « Madeleine Castaing, Lla Mujer de los azules », Casas e Gente, septembre 2004 Barbara Stoeltie, « Au revoir, Lèves », photographs by René Stoeltie, The World of Interiors, 2004 Catalog of Soutine Exhibition (1963), Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
, London Catalogue de l'exposition François-Marie Banier
François-Marie Banier
François-Marie Banier is a French novelist, playwright, artist, actor and photographer. He is particularly known for his photographs of celebrities and other public figures and for his friendships with members of high society.-Life and career:...
, « Madeleine Castaing », Maison européenne de la photographie
Maison européenne de la photographie
The Maison Européenne de la Photographie, situated in the historic heart of Paris, is a major centre for contemporary photographic art. Since February 1996 it has housed an exhibition centre, a large library, an auditorium, and a video viewing facility with a wide selection of films...
, Paris, 2003 Catalogue Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
, L'Univers de Madeleine Castaing, Galerie Charpentier
Galerie Charpentier
The Galerie Charpentier was a gallery of historic and contemporary art in Paris, located at 76, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, at the corner with rue Duras....
, Paris, septembre-octobre 2004
Filmography
- The ProprietorThe ProprietorThe Proprietor is a 1996 film. It is a U.S.-French co-production Merchant Ivory film, directed by Ismail Merchant for Jeanne Moreau's request.-Starring:*Jeanne Moreau - Adrienne Mark*Sean Young - Virginia Kelly*Sam Waterston - Harry Bancroft...
, film by Ismail MerchantIsmail MerchantIsmail Merchant was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
with Jeanne MoreauJeanne MoreauJeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
and Sean YoungSean YoungSean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
(1996), filmed in Madeleine Castaing's apartment - Madeleine Castaing et Peggy GuggenheimPeggy GuggenheimMarguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R...
, television documentary directed by Benjamin Roussel, France 5France 5France 5 is a public television network in France, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir...
(2006) for the series Le Bal du siècle, produced by Jean-Louis Remilleux - Madeleine Castaing,http://www.chrisflach.com/documentary by Christopher Flach, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(2006)