Paris Apartment Left Untouched For 70 Years Reveals Socialites Dramatic Past

When an old woman dies with no other family, her estate is left up to appraisers. Usually, these people don’t find many things of value or even interest. This time around was absolutely different. It changed the lives of the appraisers and the people of Paris. The catch? This piece of wonder had been sitting around, unattended for 70 years… Nearly in plain sight.

Loss Of A Community Icon

In 2010, a small countryside town south of France lost a beloved member of their community. Known as Madame De Florian, the 91-year-old woman had been a part of that town since the 1940’s. She had made lifelong friendships with neighbors and their children. When she passed away, appraisers learned that she had an estate in Paris that had been in her possession for nearly 70 years. The professionals took the trip over to the city thinking it was just a routine day, but it turned out to be everything but normal.

Standing Time Capsule

Using the key that was in Madame De Florian’s possession, they entered the apartment and assumed they would just get straight to work. The apartment is in Paris’ 9th arrondissement near the red-light district. It was located in a bougie area, so they knew that the old woman possibly had some valuable belongings. But, what they found inside the seemingly abandoned apartment was truly shocking. Auctioneer Olivier Choppin-Janvry said that he felt like they, “stumbled into the castle of sleeping beauty.”

What Was This Place?

This apartment seemed like Paris’ best-kept secret. It had been untouched since 1940, perfectly preserving the life of an extraordinarily rich woman. From what they could tell, it seems that this place was abandoned at the very height of the cultural renaissance known as the Belle Époque. They felt like they were walking straight into a time capsule that should have never been opened. As they explored, they were completely awestruck. They found something nearly priceless…

Why Did She Leave?

They could tell that this place was abandoned due to the number of treasures Madame left behind. The locals say she must have left the apartment just as WWII was reaching its peak. The war was rough in Paris, and the city was under siege of the Nazi’s. Madame was only 23-years-old at the time, so she decided to flee, leaving all of her family heirlooms behind. Paris was becoming too tough to live in. Nazi’s imposed strict rationing and a curfew. They also raided homes to find Jew’s to send to concentration camps. Madame left to find a better life and never returned.

The apartment was easy to date. There were no new books, newspapers, or images dated past 1940, which helped them place the timing of the events. The appraisers were also in awe of the decorations. Gigantic gold curtains decorated the equally tall windows and helped block out the light. A gorgeous vanity with expensive perfumes, hair brushes, and candles seemed like a centerpiece for the room. They were still unaware of the goldmine awaiting them…

Picked Up And Left

The formal dining room was filled with expensive flatware, including a huge and heavy wooden table. The Victorian-styled chandelier fit the 1940’s decorations. It was obvious that Madame was on-point with her decorating and up to speed with all of the latest trends. There were even gold candelabras, expensive china, and other small trinkets of value. There was then a wood stove and stone sink, both very expensive in that area. There were even pots, pans, and glasses in the sink that were supposed to be washed, but that never happened…

Fancy Decorations

They also found tons of taxidermy, which was a huge marker of influence in the 1900’s. If you were able to own taxidermic items, you were rich. Hands down. The appraisers all agreed that their favorite item was the stuffed ostrich, who was found with a shawl draped around its neck. Very fancy! There were also two items that were very telling of that era: a Mickey Mouse and Porky the Pig stuffed animals. They were dirty and dusty, but that was the only telling part of their age. Finally, they found the most shocking item of all… It was priceless and would change their lives forever.

Hitting Gold

They were pretty much tearing the place apart, figuratively. Everyone was too afraid to really touch anything in fear of damaging all of the valuables. Who’s to say these things won’t disintegrate and fall apart? They’ve been left untouched for 70 years! As they were slowly moving around the apartment, Choppin-Janvry noticed something absolutely stunning: A beautiful portrait of an elegant woman decorated in jewels with a dashing pink dress. They could tell that she was a socialite of the era… But who was it?

Love Scandal

They recognized the style of that portrait immediately. It resembled the hand of Giovanni Boldini, a famous Italian artist. They knew that they had to get professionals into the loop. They brought the best of the best to identify this piece of art. They came to the conclusion that if this was a Boldini, it wasn’t known to the world. Experts who knew of Boldini figured that the woman in the painting must have been a lover and the grandmother of Madame. Her name was Marthe de Florian, and she was very well known in this parts of Paris and beyond. She was the talk of the town in the late 1800s because of her social status and involvement with a wild group of women called les demimondaines.

The painting was now on everyone’s minds. More and more people began to believe that this was a long-lost Boldini painting… It must have been worth millions. French genealogists dug deeper into the past life of Marthe de Florian. Birth records and newspaper clippings revealed that her real name was Mathilde Heloise Beaugiron and she was a seamstress. She had two children before she became an actress and a “society girl.” That still didn’t answer if she had a secret past with Boldini or not…

World Leader Lovers

During the investigation of the apartment, Choppin-Janvry ended up finding a bundle of letters delicately wrapped in an array of different colored ribbons. Some of the letters were signed by Boldini and others by George Clemenceau, one of the Prime Ministers of France. This proved that the painting had to be a Boldini due to the love letters. This was just one clue… among many more shocking ones.

Racy Love Letters

Apparently, Marthe de Florian was the talk of the town. It was rumored that she had affairs with Boldini and Clemenceau, and with Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau (68th Prime Minister of France), Paul Deschanel (11th President of France), and Gaston Doumergue (13th President of France). Obviously, Boldini had such an affinity with her that proved to be timeless. She must have been his favorite, and the same with her. Still, researchers wanted more answers…

The Wife

People began to dig more into France’s most shocking love tryst. One person ended up finding a book penned by Emilia Cardona, Boldini’s wife. It was a biography of her life, published in 1951. Apparently, she knew of the painting and knew of her husband’s affair with the young socialite. Painted in 1888, Marthe was just 24-years-old when she and Boldini began to see each other. How did a seamstress and mother of two live this type of scandal?

Marthe’s Life

Marthe de Florian was born on September 9th, 1864 and passed away August 29th, 1939, just a year before her granddaughter fled the lavish apartment. With that apartment, her memory diminished into nothing until the apartment was discovered in 2010. She had three younger siblings who both died young. On October 12th, 1882, she gave birth to her first son, Henri. Her died at three months old, and she was devastated until two years later…

Another Son

Marthe became pregnant yet again, and gave birth on April 7th, 1884. He was also named Henri. They lived together in Paris until his mother’s death. Henri continued living in paris until his death in 1966. He has no confirmed father, but historians believe that his father was Auguste Albert Gaston Florian Mollard, which is where ‘de Florian’ came from. He was a married banker, so Henri was obviously isolated.

Her Life

Marthe de Florian became an actress and quickly entered the life of a wealthy courtesan. She had a life full of scandal and love affairs. Henri witnessed his mother’s death in 1939 and signed the certificate. He continued to live in the apartment with his daughter, Solange. That is when they discovered that is the woman who passed away in that small French village. She was an aspiring playwright in her teenage years before the Nazi’s came. Her pseudonym was “Solange Beldo.”

Paris History

This apartment became a significant part of Paris’ history. People were able to look at it and get a real-life visual of what life was like back in it’s peak! The upper class was able to use and experience the technological advances and a robust economy. Their lives were filled with music, expensive eateries, and cabarets.

Time For Auction

Through all of this research, they were able to confirm that the portrait of Marthe de Florian was a true Boldini work. They went to auction it up, as there were literally no other family to take ownership. They started it at a meek $331,000, but after 10 bidders went into an all out war, it ended up selling for $3.4 million. This was a world record for any of the Italian artists works. Ottavi said of the auction, “It was a magic moment. One could see that the buyer loved the painting; he paid the passion.”

Nazi Thieves

This amazing find also had the people of Paris reflecting on the past. The Nazi’s destroyed so much of their culture that it was a miracle this apartment stayed all together. Nazi’s were known for stealing and destroyed all sorts of fine art. If Solange hadn’t left, they would have barged in, hurt her, and stolen her property. It was a miracle that this portrait and the incredible apartment made it through this horrible time for Paris.

Hitler The ‘Artist’

Many don’t know that Hitler was originally an artist who was rejected to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He definitely had his share of failures in the art world, but still regarded himself as a professional artists. Many believe that because of his rejected, he had a vendetta against many types of art and wanted it all destroyed. He gave his army direct instructions to destroy all art. They would break into homes of many people, even non-Jewish folks, to destroy their art pieces. Solange was afraid of this, and ran.

Missing Art

Statistics show that 20% of Europe’s art was looted by the Nazi’s. It’s also reported that over 100,000 pieces of art were never returned to their owners. Many things were missing. Some things have been recovered over time, but there’s still a huge chunk of artistic history missing from the world.

Mystery Is Solved

The mystery of the women in the painting had been solved. Needless to say, this was absolutely a shock to many local Paris folk who have lived their all of their lives. It was a nice look into the history of the city, even if it did mean that they had to look into the darker part of their history.