La belle Gabrielle - Essoyes

Gabrielle Renard, born on August 1, 1878 in Essoyes (Aube) and died in Beverly Hills on February 26, 1959, was a French woman who was hired by the painter Auguste Renoir as a nanny for his son Jean and became one of the favorite models of the artist.

Born in the same village as her distant cousin Aline Charigot, wife of Auguste Renoir, Gabrielle Renard came to work for the Renoir family in the fall of 1894 as a nanny and maid. She became one of the painter's two muses, appearing in 160 to 200 of his paintings , including the famous Femme nue couchée.

At the age of 2 , she introduced Jean Renoir to cinema . He became a successful film director and screenwriter and maintained close ties with his nanny throughout his life.

She was dismissed by Renoir's wife in 1913, but continued to pose for him until his death in 1919.

Married in 1921 to an American, Conrad Hensler Slade, she left for the United States when Germany invaded in 1940, as did the Renoir family. When her husband died, she settled in Los Angeles, near Jean Renoir.

Willem Vandenameele