Joséphine CALAMATTA (1817-1892), Galathée - Lot 129

Joséphine CALAMATTA (1817-1892), Galathée Oil on canvas signed lower right 35 x 27 cm Provenance Acquired by the current owner from Galerie Elstir in the 1980s Joséphine Calamatta, born Anne Joséphine Cécile Raoul-Rochette in Paris on March 1, 1817. Granddaughter of sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon and daughter of Désiré Raoul-Rochette, archaeologist and curator at the Cabinet des Médailles. In 1840, she married the painter-engraver Luigi Calamatta. Her daughter Marcelline, known as Lina, born in 1842, married Maurice Dudevant Sand in 1862, son of George Sand. She died in 1892 at the age of 75. Her work was influenced by one of her most eminent teachers, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Hippolyte Flandrin also contributed to her training. She found her own path, notably in the use of vivid, striking colors that are strongly reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance and certain works by the Spanish Baroque painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.