A Painting of Maharaja Duleep Singh after Winterhalter, Part of a Suite of Panels Painted in 1988 by Theirry Bruet for Mme Régine’s Restaurant Le Doyen in Paris

This work in pastel is of very large scale and that is because it was once one of a number of pieces painted to fill the walls of the fashionable restaurant Le Doyen on the Champs-Élysées in Paris when it was taken over and relaunched by the socialite and singer Régina Zylberberg, known professionally as Régine. She took as her theme the works of the great portraitist FRANZ XAVER WINTERHALTER (1805-73) and asked the Thierry Bruet to produce a series of panels based on some of his best known paintings. As can be seen by comparing the Winterhalter image (below) to Bruet’s finished work, there are many notable differences, particularly the incorporation of a tiger in to the Frenchman’s work and the removal of Singh’s facial hair. However, Bruet has been very faithful to the clothing and most of the jewellery worn in the original portrait and produced a charming echo of late 18^th century Orientalism and a touch of the exotic. The piece is signed and dated “88”.

The last ruler of the Sikh empire, Maharaja Duleep Singh lived much of his life in exile in England, spending time in Suffolk in Elveden Hall, later the seat of the Guinness family.

Le Doyen remains one of the most famous of all Parisian restaurants, awarded three Michelin stars. In the 1980s, however, it was also the centre of a particular social scene in the city, drawing celebrities who were part of Régine’s circle. Credited with the invention of the modern disco, Régine became a nightclub and restaurant mogul and launched a series of successful hospitality ventures around the world in parallel with her singing career. These restaurants were frequented by the fashionable crowd of the time and if our panel could talk, it would certainly have some interesting tales to tell about the decadence and opulence of the 1980s and 90s and the ‘It Crowd’ in Paris at that time. Régine died in 2022 and this painting is an evocative memorial to her taste and influence in the fine dining scene. 

Thierry Bruet, born in 1949, is a highly successful French artist who has exhibited widely around the world and is currently putting together a retrospective of his work. He has worked in multiple media as a painter and sculptor and, as well as many pieces in private collections, his work adorns such iconic hotels as the George V in Paris and some of the Sofitel Hotels in London and New York. We are very grateful to M. Bruet for confirming that this piece was indeed painted by him in 1988 and furnishing us with details of the commission.