Chloé (artwork)

Chloé

Artist	Jules Joseph Lefebvre
Year	1875 (1875)
Type	Canvas
Medium	Oil
Dimensions	260 cm × 139 cm (100 in × 55 in)
Location	Young and Jackson Hotel, Melbourne

Chloé is a 260 by 139 cm oil canvas painting of a young Parisian girl by French figure painter Jules Joseph Lefebvre, made in 1875. The painting is located in the upstairs bar of the Young and Jackson Hotel in Melbourne, Australia, where it has been since 1909.^[1] She is known as the "Melbourne Icon" and is the mascot of HMAS Melbourne.^[2]

History

Chloé made its first debut in the Paris Salon in 1875 with great success. With that success, it and Lefebvre won the Gold Medal of Honour in 1872. It was subsequently displayed in art exhibitions such as the French Gallery at the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 and the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880.

Chloé was then purchased by Dr. Thomas Fitzgerald of Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, for 850 guineas.^[2] Controversy arose when the painting was to be exhibited on Sundays. The Presbyterian Assembly found the painting to be too scandalous to show on Sundays, so it had to eventually be taken down from galleries.^[3] Upon Fitzgerald's death in 1908, the painting was auctioned off to Norman Figsby Young.^[2] Henry Young and Thomas Jackson bought Chloé in 1908 from Norman Figsby Young and placed the painting in the bar of their hotel.^[2]

Influence on soldiers

Chloé captivated the love of many soldiers during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, who frequented the bar befeore they left for battle. Thousands of soldiers would go to the Young and Jacksons Hotel to drink and to see her for company. Letters were even addressed to her from the trench wars of Turkey, France, and Papua New Guinea, promising to return to her. American soldiers went as far as coming up with a plan to abduct her.^[2]

Exhibitions

• Paris Salon Exhibition, 1875
• Sydney International Exhibition, 1879
• Melbourne International Exhibition, 1880
• Adelaide Gallery Exhibition, 1883
• Blamey House Women's Auxiliary
• Fundraiser, 1940
• National Gallery of Victoria 1883, 1995, 2000

Awards

• 1875 – Won Gold Medal of Honour
• 1879 – Won highest award at the Sydney International Exhibition
• 1880 – Won highest award at the Melbourne International Exhibition

Damage and restoration

On Friday, September 24, 2004, at 8:30 pm, a patron from the pub fell against the painting and caused long vertical cracks on the 5-millimetre (0.20 in) thick protective glass.^[4] Art experts said the damage was minor and would not affect the overall value of the painting.^[4] The painting was repaired at the Ian Potter Conservation Centre in the Ian Potter Museum of Art in Melbourne, where it waited for German glass to be imported as a new protectant. The painting was finally restored and put back in the Young and Jackson Hotel on October 13, 2004.^[5]

The model

The model for this painting was named Marie, not Chloé. She was born to a poor family in 1856, and was of Persian descent. She left home at a young age and started posing for artists in order to gain some income for herself and her sister. She was 19 when Lefebvre painted her for Chloé. Considerable controversy surrounds her relationship with Lefebvre, which much disagreement as to the exact nature of the relationship. Some have said that she had a sexual relationship with him, while others have said that he rejected her.^[6] Another account says that he seduced both Marie and her sister. Whatever the truth was, a year after Lefebvre completed the Chloé painting, he married her sister. A year after that, Marie hosted a party with close friends, during which she slipped away into the kitchen and made and drank a poisonous substance. The exact reason for her suicide remains unknown but some have speculated that she did it because of her unrequited love for Lefebvre.^[7]

Young and Jackson Hotel

Chloé is to remain part of the hotel forever, as decided by the National Trust and Heritage of Victoria in 1988. The hotel holds free information tours and sessions to teach people the history, origins, and the prominence of the painting.

References