though I might not be home when she arrives, and as she needs to be signed for, I may not get her until next week.
Who is Madam? Madam is a painting that was my mothers. She was painted in the 1800′s by a French artist named A. Dubois. What the A stands for, mom never did find out. Madam is a middle aged woman, sitting in a chair. She is sitting sideways, but her head is turned and she is looking straight out of the picture. Her eyes follow you wherever you go. She has a book on her lap with her hand resting on it… i think the book is the Bible, but I don’t remember if it it says that on it, or it’s just what I’ve always assumed. Madam is not a beautiful woman. She is a bit on the heavy side, has dark hair and is wearing a fur lined, dark blue dress and a complicated hat.
Mom always said she bought Madam at a garage sale for $100. She liked to share her suspicion that Madam had been stolen from somewhere in Europe during WWII and that someday some family would claim her. Growing up, Madam was always on a wall somewhere, staring out at me. Though I don’t know if it was ‘always’ as I’m not sure when exactly Mom bought Madam.
Madam is a bit worn out. She is oil on canvas stretched over a frame. Some of the nails (or tacks) holding her to this frame always looked loose to me. She has one major tear in her, that I recall as being about 2 inches wide. There are several little nicks and dents elsewhere on the painting as well.
My mother passed away the day before Thanksgiving, 2008. In her will, she wanted me to have Madam. For many months my Aunt who is the executor of my mothers estate tried to find a buyer for Madam as I had told her to just sell Madam and give the money to my brother who is Moms main beneficiary. Eventually my aunt implied that she was just going to let a local auction house auction her off. I knew that Madam would only get a fraction of what she was worth in those circumstances, so I told my aunt to just ship Madam to me instead.
UPS called me with an automated message last night telling me to expect a package today. Madam is on her way here to South Carolina all the way from Alaska. Not the longest trip she has made in her life, as she came from Europe to Alaska to begin with, by an unknown route with who knows how many stops in between.
I have mixed feelings about Madam. She was part of my growing up. She was kinda creepy to tell the truth, but had a mildly mysterious story behind her, so she was also kind of neat.
And now she will be mine.
I can’t imagine ever hanging her on my wall. Ideally, I will do some research, make some calls, and get her sold for a reasonable amount to someone who takes a fancy to her and her mystery. It’s possible that this will take many years. I might not even be able to sell her as is. Perhaps some day whoever inherits my old junk will end up with her.
It seems a strange, almost sad legacy for a painting of a woman who probably was a real life flesh and blood human being back in the 1800′s that has no tie to me other than the fact that somehow a portrait of her ended up in a garage sale in Alaska.