19.00 USD
Lovely maenad image of Juliette Méaly (aka Meally, Samany, and Josserand), circa 1902 by Leopold Reutlinger.
But really, we don't just sell images. We sell the original cards they were printed on! Why does this matter? Well....magic! This card was printed in about 1902. Mlle. Mealy was performing onstage in Paris at that very time. Perhaps Toulouse Lautrec was sitting in the audience sipping at his absinthe. Perhaps he bought this card as a memento, dropped it into the pocket of his frayed frock coat, left his coat hanging on the back of a chair, someone else picked it up... you get the idea. It was actually there, in the possession of someone who breathed the air of some wonderful Paris night. This card is like a ticket on a time machine. We love this :)
In early January of 1902, this Reutlinger image of Juliette Méaly (1867-1951) all done up as Eurydice from the Cristoph Gluck opera "Orphée et Eurydice," appeared in brilliant color as the cover of the journal "Le Theatre." We get the impression that she performed set pieces from the opera in a variety revue format, but the Théâtre des Variétés had been a venue for opera and opera bouffe in the past, and Mlle. Méaly had appeared there before to rave reviews. In fact, just a few years earlier, post-impressionist Henri Toulouse Lautrec was so impressed with her that he produced a lithograph of Mlle. Méaly and co-performer G. Guillaume Guy as they appeared together onstage at the Variétés. We've included an image of that lithograph we found online, just for your enjoyment of course, not for sale.
A wonderful maenad image indeed, though Mlle Méaly is awfully subtle about the wearing of her maenad accoutrements...why the grapes are barely noticeable at all! Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that it was the maenads, at Dionysius' urging, who killed her true love, Orpheus? We definitely need to brush up on our mythology :) A very nice unpublished card.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!