Jeanne de Montagnac

Clémence Elise Marie Jeanne "Pata" de Montagnac (16 April 1882 – 27 June 1966), later known as Madame Maximilian von Jaunez and Comtesse Charles de Polignac, was a French socialite, salonnière, arts patron, and singer. She co-hosted salons at the Avenue Henri-Martin hôtel particulier of her aunt by marriage, Princess Edmond de Polignac, and performed with Richard Strauss and at the celebrated salons of Marguerite de Saint Marceaux. She ceased performing in 1925, but remained active in musical circles. She was a close friend of the composers Francis Poulenc and Gabriel Fauré. De Montagnac was the subject of a portrait and two etchings by Paul César Helleu and of three portraits by Philip de László. De László's second portrait of her, completed in 1911, was purchased by the Glasgow Corporation while on exhibit in Glasgow in 1913, making it the artist's first work to be acquired by a public collection in the United Kingdom.

Early life and family Jeanne de Montagnac, who was affectionately known as "Pata", was born on 16 April 1882 in Paris to Louis Elisée de Montagnac, 2nd Baron de Montagnac and Henriette Delphine Rosalés y de Beusse, a descendant of the Larraín family. She had two older sisters, Yvonne and Henriette. The first painting, Madame Maximilian von Jaunez was completed in 1909. His third of de Montagnax was completed in 1914.

De Montagnac's aunt by marriage, Winnaretta, Princess Edmond de Polignac, held famous salons at her hôtel particulier on Avenue Henri-Martin, which de Montagnac seconded as a hostess. She was instrumental in Princess Edmond's commissioning of Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D Minor. As a close friend of Poulenc, she received numerous signed copies of his music as gifts.

De Montagnac was a musician herself, and performed as a dilettante singer with Richard Strauss and at the salons of Marguerite de Saint Marceaux, which were frequented by Giovanni Boldini, Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Fauré, Jacques-Émile Blanche, and Colette. In 1925, she suffered a vocal cord injury and stopped performing, but remained involved in musical circles.

She died in Paris on 27 June 1966.