39 - Marguerite de BAYSER-GRATRY (1881–1975)

Marguerite de BAYSER-GRATRY (1881–1975) Geneviève Hugo-Jalles, known as Ginette Stone relief Signed “M.DE BAYSER.G” below the left shoulder H. 41 x 21 x 12 cm Exhibition: -Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1927, M. de Bayser, no. 5; Bibliography: -Camille Mauclair, “Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry, Sculptor,” in *L’Art et les artistes: art ancien, art moderne, art décoratif*, no. 58, June 1925, pp. 306–309; -Anonymous, “Exhibitions, Exhibitions Visited,” in *L’Art et les artistes*, February 1927, no. 74, p. 175. -Jessie Michel, *Marguerite de Bayser-Gratry, Female Sculptor (1881–1975)*, Catalogue Raisonné, Paris, Mare et Martin, 2010, listed under no. 3, p. 165, pp. 164–165, illustrated on p. 53. This intimate and touching portrait, created before 1926, depicts Geneviève Hugo-Jalles, known as Ginette, the artist’s niece. It is part of a series of portraits of children—always close relatives—whom Marguerite de Bayser enjoyed depicting with tenderness around the turn of the 1920s. Born in Brussels in 1888, Marguerite trained in sculpture in Paris under Charles Vital-Cornu. Deeply impressed by Rodin’s art, a trip to Egypt in the early 1920s shifted her style toward a refinement of forms and a simplification of geometric volumes. It was through direct carving in onyx, marble, and mother-of-pearl, as well as through the creation of art objects and animal sculptures, that she found success and won the Grand Prix at the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in 1925. Although less well-known for her portraits, she nevertheless excelled at delicately capturing the psychology of her loved ones—and especially the carefree spirit and grace of childhood.