Henriette Rath
Born
Jeanne Henriette Rath

(1772-05-11)11 May 1772
Geneva
Died24 November 1856(1856-11-24) (aged 84)
Geneva
Resting placeCimetière des Rois

Henriette Rath (11 May 1772 - 24 November 1856) was a Swiss portrait artist who worked in enamel and oil painting. She was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Isabey and the first woman to be made an honorary member of the Société des Arts.[1][2][3] Rath worked and exhibited in Russia, France and Switzerland.[4] Through an inheritance from her brother and the sale of several of her artworks, Rath and her sister founded the Musée Rath, a museum of art in Geneva, Switzerland, which remains open to the present day.[1][4][5]

Biography

Entrance to the Musée Rath

Rath was born Jeanne Henriette Rath on 11 May 1772 in Geneva, Switzerland.[4] She was the daughter of Jean-Louis, a watch dealer, and Alexandrine Sarah Rolland.[4] Her family was originally from Nîmes, France, who took refuge in Switzerland fleeing from the persecution of Protestants in 1705.[2][6]

She began in drawing lessons with Renée Sarasin-Bordier and in 1798 she began as a pupil in France with Jean-Baptiste Isabey.[2][3][1] Isabey introduces Rath to the Russian imperial family, who she paints both copies and portraits for.[2] In 1799, she became a member of the committee for the Académie des jeunes filles der Société des Arts in Geneva.[4] She taught young women to draw alongside Louise-Françoise Mussard, Élisabeth Terroux and Jeanne-Pernette Schenker-Massot, all of whom were miniatrists like Rath.[6] In 1801, she was the first woman made an honorary member of the Société des Arts.[1]

In 1810, she travelled to Russia with her brother, Simon.[3] In 1813, she painted for Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld in Bern.[4][3] She then travelled on to Italy (1815) and Lyon.[6][3]

In 1826, she and her sister Jeanne Françoise founded the Musée Rath, using an inheritance from their brother Simon, who was a lieutenant general in the Russian service and died in 1819, and from the sale of several of Henriette Rath's paintings.[4][1][5] In 1851, the Musée Rath came under the ownership of the City of Geneva against their wishes and has remained to the present day.[3][1]

Grave of Simon and Henriette Rath in Cimetière des Rois, Geneva, Switzerland.

Rath died in Geneva on 24 November 1856.[4] She is buried in Cimetière des Rois with her brother, Simon.

Artworks

Rath was a portrait painter that produced enamels, miniatures and oil paintings.[4] She exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1801, 1809 and 1810.[4][3] From 1816 to 1851, she exhibited regularly in Société des Arts.[2] She also exhibited in Geneva, Zurich and Bern.[4][1][3] Several of her portraits were also reproduced as engravings.

Rue Jeanne Henriette RATH

Legacy

In 2019, Rue de la Corraterie in Geneva was renamed Rue Jeanne-Henriette Rath as part of the 100Elles initiative.[6][5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Henriette Rath". Bibliothèque de Genève Iconographie (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Sturm, Fabienne Xaviere (1998). "Henriette Rath". SIKART Dictionary on art in Switzerland.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Rath | Musées d'art et d'histoire de Genève". Musée d’art et d’histoire de la Ville de Genève (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Boissonnas, Lucien (14 February 2022). "Rath, Henriette". hls-dhs-dss.ch (in German). Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  5. 1 2 3 Camillocci, Daniela Solfaroli. "Jeanne Henriette RATH". 100 Elles* (in Swiss French). Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Jordan, Nathalie (2007-01-20). "Jeanne Henriette Rath, talentueuse et indépendante". Musée d’art et d’histoire (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-21.
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