Ellen Andrée

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.

• Illustration — La Parisienne (1874) by Manet • Illustration — The Actress Ellen Andrée (1879) by Degas • Illustration — Andrée drinking in the center of Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881) by Renoir

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. Andrée continued to model for Degas and he depicted her in an 1879 print. Andrée was depicted in Renoir's 1880 painting the Luncheon of the Boating Party along with fellow actress Jeanne Samary. While working as a model, she was discovered by the actor Baron Bouquin de Lassouche, star of the Impressionist spoof La Cigale.

Andrée became an actress in the Naturalist style of theatre, in which the purpose was to give a near perfect view of real scenes and not to rely on the audience's imagination. In 1877 she made her stage debut at the age of 21 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal when she appeared in the comedy, La Chaste Suzanne by Paul Ferrier. In the early 1880s Andrée gave up modeling and devoted herself fully to acting. She acted for several decades, appearing in plays and comedies such as those by Sacha Guitry and Georges Courteline.[4] By 1901 Andrée was given leading roles in André Antoine's Théâtre Libre for the adaptation of Poil de Carotte.

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.

Ellen Andrée is recorded with the occupation stage actor. Recorded as actress and model.

• Verzeichnis der Bühnenrollen mit Ellen Andrée (Auswahl) • Rolla