3 Famous Painting Gifts for Boxing Day

Boxing Day, Boxing Day! I hope you find many lovely gifts today! But imagine discovering a real painting under the Christmas tree!  This Boxing Day, we want to share three paintings and the stories of the gifts they once were.

Gift of Engagement

When Marie de’ Medici and Henry IV, King of France, were preparing for their marriage, a customary part of the process was the exchange of portraits between the two. Years after their marriage, Peter Paul Rubens was commissioned to paint a 24-piece cycle on Marie’s life. This painting depicts the moment in which Henry receives Marie’s portrait. It is said that the king was very pleased with the original portrait and even more impressed with Marie when they met in person.

Gift of Gratitude

When Manet’s Olympia from 1865 was severely criticized by art critics, Émile Zola, a writer and intellectual, defended the artist in his 1866 article in La Revue du XXe Siècle. Zola claimed that Manet was an artist of the future, misunderstood by the traditionalists representing the Salon.

Manet decided to paint this portrait of Zola to thank him. He depicted the writer with his favorite objects: Japanese prints and a Japanese screen, as Zola was a real fan of Japonaiseries. On the desk, we can see a brochure in a blue cover—the mentioned article defending Manet. It is likely Zola is holding Charles Blanc’s book L’Histoire des Peintres, while the inkwell and pen suggest Zola’s passion for writing.

Gift of Love

When Pablo Picasso‘s first love, Fernande Olivier, left him in 1912 after seven years of their love affair, the artist took an interest in a young Marcelle Humbert, known as Eva Gouel. He professed his love to her with this painting, which he made the same year they met. Sadly, their love lasted only three years. In 1915, Eva died of tuberculosis, or cancer—we don’t know exactly—which left Picasso devastated.