Madeleine Deslandes Explained

Madeleine Deslandes
Pseudonym:Ossit
Birth Date:16 April 1866
Birth Place:Montluçon, France
Death Date:2 March 1929
Death Place:Paris, France
Notableworks:A quoi bon? (1892)
Ilse (1894)
Cyrène (1908).

Baronne Madeleine Annette Edmé Angélique Vivier-Deslandes (16 April 1866 – 2 March 1929) was a French writer associated with the English Pre-Raphaelites. She was the subject of a painting by Edward Burne-Jones.[1]

Deslandes travelled to England in 1893 to meet Burne-Jones in preparation for an article that she was writing about him for Le Figaro. It was arranged that Burne-Jones would paint Deslandes' portrait, which he did in 1895–96.[2]

Deslandes wrote under the pseudonym "Ossit". She wrote four novels : A quoi bon? (1892), Ilse (1894), Il n'y a plus d'îles bienheureuses (1898) and Cyrène (1908).

According to Emily Wubben, Deslandes "pursued a glittering social life in Parisian literary and artistic circles. She was celebrated as a hostess of a cultured salon that attracted the presence of renowned artists, poets and composers."[3] She once entered a lion's cage at a fair and recited poetry by Jean Richepin.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Saunier. Philippe. 1999. Edward Burne-Jones et la France : Madeleine Deslandes, une préraphaélite oubliée. Revue de l'Art. fr-FR. 123. 1. 57–70. 10.3406/rvart.1999.348432.
  2. Web site: Gott. Ted. Edward Burne-Jones’s Portrait of Baronne Madeleine Deslandes. National Gallery of Victoria. 21 April 2017.
  3. Web site: Wubben. Emily. Artistic souls: Edward Burne-Jones and his portrait of Baronne Deslandes. National Gallery of Victoria. 21 April 2017.
  4. Book: Burrows. Stephanie. Tucholsky and France. 2001. Maney Publishing. 98. 21 April 2017.