Macario Vitalis portrait of Francoise Floch
One of the most touching paintings of Macario Vitalis, a Philippine artist active in France, is a portrait of a young lady in Breton attire. But who is this lady? And how did this portrait come about?
On the occasion of our visit to Plestin-les-Grèves, we were able to meet Francoise Floch (known by the nickname of “Miss”), who is the subject of the portrait. We were introduced by Jacqualine Quiguer, who is the aunt of Morgane, the wife of Louis Talents, an upcoming Philippine artist, based in Brest, on the far western coast of Brittany.
As Francoise recounts it, at the age of 16 she was working in a local epicerie (grocery store), when Vitalis, a customer, was captivated by her eyes. He thus asked her if he could paint her portrait.
With the agreement of her mother, Francoise, became the model for this delightful portrait. She sat for about ten sessions, on Thursdays, then the free day of the week. Francoise declined the request of Vitalis to pose for a second portrait, as she did not wish to waste more of her free time.
One Interesting point is that Francoise was not dressed in Breton attire during the painting sessions. The attire was a creation of Vitalis’ imagination.
According to some experts, although there were no further portraits of Francoise, there is in fact a touch of Francoise in Vitalis’ future paintings of women.
Francoise’s memory of Vitalis is of a small, modest, discreet, timid, and modest man. He regularly lived on a diet of tinned fish. After completion of the portrait, Francoise had no further contact with Vitalis.
Francoise did remark that Vitalis received visits from family members from the Philippines. He lived to the ripe old age of 91 years. A year or two before his passing, one of his nieces brought him back to the Philippines. According to Philippine customs, their nationals should be buried at home so that family members can ensure the appropriate burial customs.
Finally, where was the portrait painted?
Christian Jeffroy, the mayor of Plestin-les-Grèves, showed us two shacks, one of which he believed was Vitalis’ residence in Plestin-les-Grèves. From our photos, Francoise quickly identified the shack on the right hand side as being the residence of Vitalis, where her portrait is painted.