Duchess de Fitz-James

The work is an oil painting executed on canvas in 1867. The artist employed oil paint on a canvas support, a standard technique for portraiture of the period, and the composition portrays the sitter alongside a rendered flower, blending portraiture with still-life elements. The piece is catalogued as a painting in the National Gallery of Art's collection, reflecting its formal classification as a canvas-based oil work. No additional details on handling or condition are provided in the documentation.

The portrait was commissioned in 1867 by the sitter herself, Marguerite, Duchesse de Fitz-James (née Löwenhielm), at the Château de la Lorie in Anjou. It subsequently passed to Alfred II-Emmanuel-Louis Beurdeley (1847–1919) in Paris by 1906, who lent it to a Paris exhibition that year and is listed as its owner in a 1911 catalogue raisonné. The work then entered the Lintilhac collection in Paris, before being acquired by Albert Dubosc of Le Havre by 1936, when he lent it to an exhibition in Grenoble.

Galerie André Weil in Paris handled its sale on 14 March 1950 to the American collector Chester Dale (1883–1962) of New York. Dale bequeathed the painting to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1963, where it carries the accession number 1963.10.223.

The 1867 oil portrait of Marguerite Augusta Marie Löwenhielm, duchesse de Fitz-James, exemplifies Henri Fantin-Latour's engagement with aristocratic portraiture and his interest in floral symbolism. It was shown at the 1906 Paris exhibition lent by Alfred Beurdeley and later at the 1936 Grenoble exhibition organized by Albert Dubosc, yet it did not appear in the 1920 Beurdeley sale nor the 1947 Dubosc collection auction, suggesting limited market attention at the time. The work entered the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1963, where it is studied as a representative example of mid-nineteenth-century French elite portraiture and as a point of reference for scholars examining Fantin-Latour's integration of botanical motifs within formal portrait contexts.

Henri Fantin-Latour completed Duchess de Fitz-James, an oil on canvas portrait, in 1867. This painting captures Marguerite Augusta Marie Löwenhielm, the Duchesse de Fitz-James, seated within an interior setting. The work exemplifies the Realist approach prevalent during its creation, focusing on a direct and unembellished depiction of its subject.

The duchess is presented in formal attire, holding a single flower, while additional floral elements enrich the surrounding environment.