June 13, 2025 Auction: Modern and Contemporary Art “JACQUELINE MARVAL (FRANCE/ 1866–1932) Presumed Portrait of Simonne Menier (1881–1972), 1918 Oil on canvas Signed, dated, and inscribed ‘Marval to Georges Menier: A memento of my stay in Touraine, 1918’ (lower right) 96 x 69 cm. Very slight indentation (hole in the lower right near the dedication / see additional photos) and loss of paint, small holes along the edge of the canvas (former stretcher holes?). The Jacqueline Marval Committee has confirmed the authenticity of this work. This portrait is an important rediscovery within the body of work by Jacqueline Marval (1866–1932), one of the few women associated with Fauvism in the 1900s. Originally from the Grenoble region, Marval arrived in Paris in the 1890s. As the partner of the painter Jules Flandrin—himself a student of Gustave Moreau —Marval came to rub shoulders with the future Fauvist painters who were Moreau’s students: Henri Matisse, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, Charles Camoin, and Georges Rouault. A socialite by nature, she became friends with the Menier couple, particularly Simonne Menier, who served as the model for another of Marval’s masterpieces, *La reine des Sioux* (1923). Simonne Menier, née Legrand (1881–1972), was the wife of Georges Menier (1880–1933), an industrialist and heir to the Menier chocolate empire, and owner of the Château de Chenonceau through her father Gaston (1855–1934). Like Lefèvre-Utile and its cookies, the Menier family has distinguished itself since the late 19th century through large-scale advertising campaigns to promote its chocolate, enlisting illustrators such as Firmin Bouisset (1859–1925), who created the famous “Menier Girl,” the brand’s mascot. A society family known for its extravagant parties, the Menier family mingled with Parisian high society in the 19th and 20th centuries. Georges and Simonne Menier were no exception to the rule; in 1903, on the occasion of their wedding, they hosted a banquet for 2,600 guests at the Ferme du Buisson in the Paris region. Expert: Thomas Morin Williams”
