Lise Tréhot
Lise Tréhot (14 March 1848 – 12 March 1922) was a French art model who posed for artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir from 1866 until 1872, during his early Salon period. She appeared in more than twenty paintings, including notable works such as "Lise" (1867) and "In Summer" (1868), and she was the model for almost all of Renoir's work featuring female figures at this time. Tréhot married Georges Brière de l'Isle in 1883 and raised four children to whom she bequeathed two of Renoir's paintings, "Lise Sewing" (1867–68) and "Lise in a White Shawl" (1872), both of  which are currently held by the Dallas Museum of Art. Early life. Lise Tréhot was born in Ecquevilly, Seine-et-Oise, France, on 14 March 1848, to Louis Tréhot and Amelie Elisabeth Boudin. Her father was the postmaster of the town until the mid-1850s, after which he moved the entire family to Paris where he sold lemonade and tobacco. She was the fourth in a family of six children, including three brothers and two sisters. A document from this time describes Tréhot's profession as a dressmaker. , her older sister, was the lover of artist Jules Le Coeur, who later  introduced her to Pierre-Auguste Renoir at his house in Marlotte, possibly in June 1865. Modeling period. Tréhot began modeling for Renoir when she was about eighteen and he was twenty-five. Early paintings of Tréhot at this time include "Lise in a Straw Hat" (1866) and "Lise Sewing" (1867–68). Renoir painted a modern nude of Tréhot as "Diana" (1867), but it was rejected by the Salon of 1867. Renoir found critical success the next year with "Lise" (1867), which was well received at the Salon of 1868. The Impressionist painting depicts Tréhot in a life-size portrait, strolling through  a wooded park as sunlight falls through the trees. Art critic Zacharie Astruc described Tréhot in "Lise" as "the likeable Parisian girl in the woods", and as a working-class girl. Émile Zola also approved, comparing Tréhot to Monet's model and later wife Camille Doncieux. French art critic Théodore Duret later observed that because Renoir's "Lise" was derivative of Gustave Courbet's technique, its appearance at the Salon "provoked no definite opposition". However, Renoir's decision to shadow Tréhot's face in darkness and emphasize the reflection of sunlight from her white dress in "Lise" led several critics  to ridicule Tréhot's appearance due to the unusual contrast. At the Salon of 1869, Tréhot appeared in a work named "In Summer" (1868), dressed casually in a loose blouse falling off her shoulders. John Collins notes that Tréhot's "dark, heavy-set and expressionless features" worked well in such portraits, but were less successful in more formal, costume-oriented paintings such as "The Engaged Couple" (1868), where she poses with artist Alfred Sisley. In the summer of 1869, she accompanied Renoir to his parents’ house in the Ville-d'Avray, and made trips to the Seine near Bougival where Renoir  painted scenes with Monet on the water. "La Barque" (1870) is thought to depict Lise during this summer holiday. In total, Tréhot appeared in more than twenty paintings by Renoir during his early Salon period from approximately 1866 until 1872. According to art historian John House, "Lise was the model for virtually all of Renoir's female figures at this time". Although little is known about the exact nature of Tréhot's relationship with Renoir while she was modeling; she is said to have given birth to a baby boy named Pierre on 14 December 1868, but it is unclear  what became of him and he may have died as an infant. On 21 July 1870, Tréhot gave birth to a baby girl named Jeanne (d. 1934) who was given to a wet nurse to raise as her own. Renoir continued to secretly support Jeanne financially until he died (and after his death with the help of Ambroise Vollard), but never publicly or legally acknowledged that she was his daughter during his lifetime. For unknown reasons, Tréhot stopped modeling for Renoir after 1872; it was said that she never spoke to or saw him again. Although Tréhot was an important  part of Renoir's early career, he never mentioned her in any published interviews, memoirs, or biographies. Later life. In 1883, more than a decade after Tréhot stopped modeling for Renoir, she married architect Georges Brière de l'Isle (1847–1902). As the wife of Brière de l'Isle, she raised two sons and two daughters. Tréhot bequeathed two of Renoir's paintings, "Lise Sewing" (1867–68) and "Lise in a White Shawl" (1872), to her children. It is said that before her death, she destroyed many of her personal papers related to her time modeling for Renoir. Tréhot died in Paris on 12  March 1922, at the age of 73. She is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery. Selected works as model. Tréhot's list of selected works includes at least twenty-six oil on canvas paintings, twenty-four of which were painted by Renoir, while two are by Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870). It is thought that Tréhot may have posed for as many as twenty-three works for Renoir, but only once for Bazille; Renoir's "Landscape with Two People" (1866), in which she appeared, has either been lost or destroyed, but is believed to have been preserved as a painting within a  painting in "Bazille's Studio" (1870). Bazille's work is the only known surviving image of the full painting; a surviving fragment of the work has been identified, but its location is unknown. Tréhot is believed to have posed for "La Toilette" (1869–70), another work by Bazille.