Lot 27: Frederic Soulacroix, (French, 1858-1933), "Afternoon Tea for Three", oil on canvas, 39-1/2" x 30"

Frederic Soulacroix
(French, 1858-1933)

"Afternoon Tea for Three"

oil on canvas
signed lower right. Presented in a gilded frame.
39-1/2" x 30"

Provenance: Private collection, Birmingham, Alabama; Thence by descent.

Notes: Frederic (Joseph, Pierre, Timothee) Soulacroix was born into a prominent artistic family. His father, a talented French sculptor and painter, married Italian fresco painter Giancinta Diofebo, with whom he collaborated on several fresco commissions. The talented young Soulacroix entered the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence in 1873 and was later accepted into its prestigious School of Painting where he was exposed to romantic genre painting. The painting offered here is a fine example of his mature work that from the late 1870s represents a unique mixture of Rococo subject matter (courting couples and frivolous tea parties in gardens and parlors) and Neo-Classical draftsmanship within Empire-style settings. The sumptuous parlor and the three young debutantes engaged in teatime chatter are formed through strong compositional outlines and polished surfaces. The verisimilitude of the silk and satin gowns, the crisp lines of the curtained door, and upholstered fabrics are a testament to Soulacroix's virtuoso in depicting the fineries of late 18th-/early 19th-century costume pieces and decor. Soulacroix had a prodigious career with well-to-do patrons seeking portraits and genre scenes that aggrandized their wealth, moreover material possessions.

In 1924 he was appointed an officer of the French Academy and member of the Committee to the French Alliance in Florence. His commitment to working with French artists in Italy was awarded posthumously in 1945 by the French government with the Legion of Honor.

Though quite distinctive, Soulacroix's works are often confounded with those of his father's Charles Frederic Joseph Soulacroix. Many art database references (even Benezit) and Google images attribute his elegant paintings of ladies in refined domestic spaces to his father, who specialized in religious subject matter in two very different mediums - marble and frescos.