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ACQUISITIONS
ACQUISITION SPOTLIGHT
Her Taste Impeccable
Marie Mathilde Deslonde Slidell
acquisition made possible by the Clarisse Claiborne Grima Fund, 2014.0110
A large portrait of Marie Mathilde Deslonde Slidell, painted by the prolific portraitist George Peter Alexander Healy in 1857, presents the wife of legislator John Slidell in a theatrical pose. A description of the artwork, which quotes a letter from the Slidells’ elder daughter, Rosine, the Comtesse de St. Roman, appears in Louis Martin Sears’s 1925 biography of John Slidell: “A fine portrait of her [Marie] by Healy is in the possession of her daughter at Paris, the costuming and background having been determined by the sitter. Commodore [Matthew C.] Perry”—Marie Slidell’s brother-in-law—“on his return from Japan, had brought for Mrs. Slidell an immense China vase, a cashmere shawl from India, and ‘the very first arum that had ever been seen in Washington.’ Grouping these gifts about herself, ‘in her wardrobe she chose a black velvet ball dress, the bodice with basque trimmed around the shoulders and the hips with Marabout [sic] feathers of their natural tint and a garland of red velvet geraniums.’”
For a number of years, the sitter was misidentified as the Comtesse de St.
Roman. The origin of this error is unclear but may relate to the painting’s line of ownership and location. The Slidell family relocated to Paris during the Civil War, and the daughters spent the majority of the rest of their lives there, both marrying Frenchmen. The painting remained in the possession of the comtesse and, later, her daughter. The Collection acquired the portrait as that of the comtesse, but staff researchers soon discovered that birth dates, titles, and other identifying details did not
match up. Upon discovery of the description in Sears’s book, as well as a reproduction in Beckles Willson’s 1932 biography of John Slidell, the identification and provenance became clear.
Louisiana-born Marie Slidell was a well-respected member of Washington society during her husband’s years as US senator from Louisiana, 1853—61. She was noted for her intellect, grace, and vivacity. As A. L. Diket writes in his 1982 work Senator John Slidell and the Community He Represented in Washington, 1853—1861, “Marie Mathilde was not only beautiful. Her manner was gay and her taste impeccable. Her reputation as a hostess grew with the years. Long after she and her husband were gone from the United States her soirees were recalled by Washingtonians with nostalgic pleasure.” Following Marie Slidell’s death, in 1870, John Slidell wrote to his brother-in-law, “I have great consolation in the consciousness that in our married life of 35 years there had been no cloud between us: had there been, it must have been my fault, for in all her relations, domestic and social, it would have been difficult to find any human being nearer perfection.” —REBECCA SMITH AND JOHN T. MAGILL
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Fall 2014 2i