Ellen Andrée

Ellen Andrée (born Hélène Marie André; 7 March 1856 – 9 December 1933 ) was a French actress and model for Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and other artists.

Early life Ellen Andrée was born in 1856 on the rue Geoffrey-Marie in Paris. She was daughter of a military officer and his wife, a department store clerk. Andrée originally intended to become a primary school teacher, but began modeling in the 1870s as a teenager in Montmartre.

Career

Modeling One of her first, and among the most famous, modeling jobs was posing for Degas's L'Absinthe or The Absinthe Drinker (1875-76). This painting sparked great controversy as it conveyed a strong sense of isolation, making it a haunting depiction of Parisian modernity. In 1878 Andrée modeled for the nude courtesan Marie in Rolla, a similarly scandalous painting by Henri Gervex, that was based on a poem by Alfred de Musset. By 1901 Andrée was given leading roles in André Antoine's Théâtre Libre for the adaptation of Poil de Carotte.

Personal life After an active career, including travel to the United States, Argentina, and Russia, she married Henri-Julien Dumont, an impressionist painter, and settled down in the Paris suburb Ville-d' Avray.

Andrée occupied a space at the intersection of high culture and bohemian life, interacting with artists, actors, writers, poets, and intellectuals.