Jeanne Samary (1857-1890), was a French prominent actress who also worked as model. She came from a strong musical and theatrical background: her father was a cellist, and two of her maternal aunts, as well as her grandmother, had been actresses.
Renoir became acquainted with the 20 year old actress Jeanne Samary, who had already made her mark on the Parisian stage, at the home of his patron. Renoir and Jeanne Samary most likely met at the salon gatherings of the publisher Georges Charpentier and his wife Marguerite, which brought together the leading painters, actors and writers of the time. For several years she was both his model and his lover.
Though she wasn’t classically beautiful, with wide chin, broad, open face and stout figure, Renoir found her enchanting and painted three portraits of her between 1877 and 1878 each called
Portrait of Jeanne Samary.
Jeanne Samary featured in Renoir’s 1879 work
The Ball at the Moulin de la Galelte and was the main subject of
The Swing, also done that summer.
Who is Jeanne Samary?
