Henry Caro-Delvaille

Henry Caro-Delvaille, a Frenchman of Spanish origin, was an important painter of the social life in the early 20th century. His real name was Delvaille ("de la Vallée" in Spanish) but he signed Caro-Delvaille because his mother, with whom he had a close relationship, was named Caroline. From his childhood, Henry Caro-Delvaille was curious about art, observed his surroundings and drew. His mother, a writer and poet, was his first guide.

After studying from 1895 to 1897 at the Bayonne School of Fine Arts, Henry Caro-Delvaille was a student of Léon Bonnat at the Paris School of Fine Arts. He exhibited for the first time at the Salon de la Société des artistes français in Paris in 1899. He became a member of the Société nationale des beaux-arts in 1903 and its secretary in 1904. In 1905, he won the big gold medal at the International Exhibition in Munich. The same year, his friend Edmond Rostand entrusted him with the decoration of his villa in Cambo. He then became known as a portrait painter and received numerous orders. He was made a knight of the Legion of Honor in 1910. His painting can be compared to that of Carolus Duran (1837-1917), a famous painter of the belle époque.

Henri Caro-Delvaille emigrated to the United States in 1913 and settled in New York, moving towards a more Art Deco style. He was a central figure in artistic, literary and musical circles on both sides of the Atlantic, from Paris to New York. Much of his work can be found across the Atlantic today.