Henriette Henriot

Henriette Henriot (born Marie Henriette Alphonsine Grossin; 14 November 1857 – 17 March 1944) was an actress and a favourite model of the French artist Renoir from about 1874–1876. She is known for the model in his painting La Parisienne on display at the National Museum, Cardiff.

Henriot, the daughter of Aline Grossin, a milliner, started at the Conservatoire de musique et de déclamation in Paris in 1872, where she studied acting. She was still using her birth name of Marie Henriette Alphonsine Grossin, and it wasn't until 1874 when she started to use her stage names of Henriette Henriot, Mademoiselle Henriot, and Madame Henriot when she was appearing in acting roles at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique and had started modelling for Renoir as a way to earn extra cash. It was at this point that she was performing in minor parts in the Théâtre de l'Odéon, Théâtre Libre and Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique.

Colin Bailey formerly of the Frick Collection, said in an exhibition catalogue in 2012:

"Between 1874 and 1876 Henriot modelled for five of Renoir's most ambitious full-length pictures and at least seven smaller works. She appears fully and fashionably dressed in La Parisienne, draped and damp in La Source; seated in the shade with a suitor in the Lovers; in Troubadour costume in The Page, and as the protective elder sister in La Promenade."

It is not known whether Renoir ever paid Henriot for modelling, however he did give her two paintings, the last painting he did of her was A Vase of Flowers. Renoir had also become close friends with her during this time, so much so that he also painted her daughter, Jeanne Angèle Grossin (1878 – 1900) who modelled for him in Fillette au chapeau bleu (Little girl in blue hat). Jeanne was killed in a theater fire in 1900, when she was 21.

Stage career
The following is a selection of plays that Henriot acted in:


 * 1875	Le Fils du Diable by Paul Féval
 * 1975	La Vénus by Gordes d’Adolphe Belot
 * 1975	Le Fils de Chopart by Jules Dornay
 * 1877	Pépite
 * 1882	Une aventure de Garrick by Fabrice Labrousse
 * 1883	La Famille d'Armelles by Jean Marras
 * 1883	Sganarelle by Molière
 * 1894	La Belle Limonadière by Paul Mahalin
 * 1895	L'Argent by Émile Fabre directed by André Antoine
 * 1898	Mon enfant by Ambroise Janvier
 * 1902	Nini l'assommeur by Maurice Bernhardt
 * 1904	Le Bercail by Henri Bernstein
 * 1905	La Rafale (Whirlwind) by Henri Bernstein
 * 1908	Le Petit Fouchard by Charles Raymond
 * 1908	Le Passe-partout by Georges Thurner
 * 1909	Pierre et Thérèse by Marcel Prévost
 * 1912	La Crise by Paul Bourget
 * 1912	Le Mystère de la chambre jaune by Gaston Leroux
 * 1914	Monsieur Brotonneau by Robert de Flers