Théodore Duret

Théodore Duret (20 January 1838 – 16 January 1927) was a French journalist, author and art critic. He was one of the first advocates of Courbet, Manet, and the Impressionists. One of his best known works is Critique d'Avant Garde (Paris, 1885) which was written in support of the Impressionist movement. He also served as collecting advisor and buying agent for American art collector Louisine Havemeyer.

Biography Theodore Duret was heir to a firm of Cognac dealers, was a collector, orientalist, and art critic.

Whistler painting He was introduced to Whistler by Manet and posed for a portrait by Whistler in 1883 at Whistler's London studio at 13 Tite Street. At Duret's request, Whistler painted him in full evening dress, but Whistler suggested that he hold a pink domino, an addition necessary to the decorative arrangement of the composition. Whistler worked on the portrait over a long period of time, even though the finished work ultimately looks like a rapid sketch. Acclaimed when exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1885, it was ranked by many as the best portrait of Duret painted by any of the great Realist artists of the period.

Works

Duret, Théodore (1919) Vincent Van Gogh. Bernheim Jeune et Cie.