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Leducq Maison de Ventes aux enchères
63
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Alexandre DUMAS. Photographic portrait with his mistress, Fa…
See original version (French)
63
-
Alexandre DUMAS. Photographic portrait with his mistress, Fa…
See original version (French)
Estimate €80 - €120
Voluntary lot
Description
Alexandre DUMAS. Photographic portrait with his mistress, Fanny Gordosa. [c. 1863]. Photograph by Chiasa. Visite-card size.
Inscribed on the reverse by Dumas and Fanny ‘to our friend Capecelatro’. Vincenzo Capecelatro (1815–1874), a Neapolitan composer, staged several operas at the San Carlo in Naples. His wife, the poetess Irène Ricchiardi, contributed to *L’Indipendente*.
Dumas had an affair with this Spanish singer between 1863 and 1865. Fanny Gordosa (1831–1909), whose name appears in the registers of La Scala in Milan in 1853 and 1855, was performing in Naples at the time. She followed Dumas back to France, where he tried in vain to get her engaged at the Opéra, but she gave numerous concerts and sang *La Traviata* for Italian audiences.
If we are to believe André Maurois in *Les Trois Dumas*, this volcanic personality filled Dumas’s home with sound and fury before he grew weary of her and showed her the door.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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