8 - Jacques-Emile BLANCHE (Paris 1861 – Offranville 1942)

Jacques-Emile BLANCHE (Paris 1861 – Offranville 1942) Woolbridge Manor, in Wool, Dorset, circa 1904 Oil on canvas 40 x 27 cm Monogrammed lower right: JEBL Signed and titled on the back of the canvas: J.E. Blanche, Wool; Manor House, Dorset Bears the mark of the canvas dealer Paul Foinet Fils on the back of the canvas Bears the inscription “312” on the crossbar of the stretcher "The village of Wool and its manor house are located on the banks of the River Frome in the region described by Thomas Hardy in his novels as Egdon Heath, particularly in *Tess of the d’Urbervilles*. Woolbridge Manor is located just outside the village on the north bank of the river. The date 1635 is inscribed on the porch, but the house was remodeled in the 17th and 18th centuries. Blanche greatly admired Thomas Hardy; he painted him twice and visited him in Dorset. This painting was likely created during that 1906 trip, which he describes in his memoirs.” "Woolbridge Manor, which inspired Wellbridge House in Thomas Hardy’s *Tess of the d’Urbervilles*, is located on the outskirts of the village of Wool, in Dorset. In Hardy’s novel, Tess and Angel spend their tragic honeymoon there. Located north of the historic Elizabethan bridge spanning the River Frome, the manor—built in the 12th century—once belonged to the Turberville family. It faces the ruins of the majestic Bindon Abbey and was part of its estate before the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1536. According to local legend, a tunnel under the river connects the two buildings. It is believed to have served as a refuge for victims of religious persecution." Jane Roberts in the Online Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Jacques Emile Blanche (no. 1426) Provenance: Private collection, Avignon Bibliography: Jane Roberts, Online Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Jacques Emile Blanche, no. 1426