Baroness Hyde de Neuville (Anne Marguerite Henriette de Marigny)
1822 Image courtesy of the New York Historical Society, New York, NY
Baroness Hyde de Neuville (Anne Marguerite Henriette de Marigny) (unknown-1849) arrived in New Jersey from France, with her husband, in 1807. After the French Revolution, she saved her royalist husband’s life by securing him safe passage, by traveling alone across Europe to intercede with Napoleon. In order for the couple to escape from France, she posed as her husband’s mother until they arrived safely in the U.S. They settled on a merino sheep farm in the New Brunswick area. For a number of years, the couple journeyed to New York City and to various settlements along the Hudson. After Napoleon was defeated and the King restored to the throne, the Baron and Baroness returned to France. However, the Baron was rewarded for his loyalty and named French Ambassador to the United States, so the couple returned there to take up residency in the new capital, Washington. The Baroness continued to produce watercolors, many of which survive, depicting life during the Federalist era. She often painted scenes of Native American life, as well as pictures of African Americans. Both were rather rare subjects for an artist of this era to choose, especially one committed to keeping a monarchy in power.
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References:
Hyde de Neuville, Jean Guillaume, and Frances Jackson. 1970. Memoirs of Baron Hyde de Neuville: outlaw, exile, ambassador. London: Sands. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/970956779
Olson, Roberta J. M., Charlene M. Boyer Lewis, and Alexandra Mazzitelli. 2019. Artist in exile: the visual diary of Baroness Hyde de Neuville. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1102600612
Dotson, Lloyd Clay. 1986. The Diplomatic mission of Baron Hyde de Neuville to the United States, 1816-1822. Ann Arbor (Michigan): University microfilms international. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/491646700
Sturtevant, William C. “Patagonian Giants and Baroness Hyde de Neuville’s Iroquois Drawings.” Ethnohistory 27, no. 4 (1980): 331-348.
Questions to Explore
What encouraged the Baroness to start watercolor paintings?
How did the Baroness’s actions during her escape to the U.S save her husbands life?
How were the Baroness’s paintings received by the public? How did it impact the people around her?
Additional Resources
Olson Roberta J. M Charlene M. Boyer Lewis Alexandra Mazzitelli and New-York Historical Society. 2019. Artist in Exile : The Visual Diary of Baroness Hyde De Neuville. London UK: D Giles Limited. https://www.worldcat.org/title/1102600612
Andrews Wayne and William N Fenton. n.d. The Baroness Was Never Bored : The Baroness Hyde De Neuville’s Sketches of American Life 1807-1822. https://www.worldcat.org/title/79900999
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum and New-York Historical Society. 1984. Baroness Hyde De Neuville : Sketches of America 1807-1822. New Brunswick N.J: Rutgers the State University. https://www.worldcat.org/title/19634870