Alexandre Dumas fils, by Jules Emile Saintin, 1888

Description

Pencil on paper, 28.5cm x 21.9cm

Dedicated and signed lower left à mon ami Alexandre Dumas ; Jules Emile Saintin 1888

The French author and playwright Alexandre Dumas fils (the younger, 1824 – 1895) is best known for the romantic novel La Dame aux Camélias (The Lady of the Camellias, which was adapted into Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La traviata.

Jules-Émile Saintin (1829 – 1894) was a neoclassic French painter. He exhibited pencil portraits at the Salon des artistes français in 1850 and in 1853. Born into poverty, Saintin overcame adversity to become a renowned painter, befriending notable figures such as Charles Garnier and Alexandre Dumas. From 1854 he worked in the United States, returning to Paris in 1860. In 1876, he was appointed Commissioner of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.

A version of this portrait painted in oil on panel is at the Musée Alexandre Dumas in Villers-Cotterêts.