Etienne, Marquis de Ganay


Etienne Aimé de Ganay, 5th Marquis de Ganay was a French aristocrat and art collector.

Early life

He was a son of Charles-Alexandre, Marquis de Ganay and Élisa Calixte de Pourtalès, who inherited the Château de Luins in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. His elder brother, Louis Charles Maurice, was the 4th Marquis de Ganay and married Mathilde des Acres de l'Aigle ; His younger brother, Jacques de Ganay, married Renée de Maillé de La Tour-Landry.
His maternal grandfather was Count James-Alexandre de Pourtalès, a prominent banker and art collector who served as chamberlain to the King of Prussia Frederick William III. His paternal grandparents were Françoise Bonne de Virieu and Gen. Antoine-Charles de Ganay, 2nd Marquis de Ganay, a representative for Saône-et-Loire from 1810 to 1823.

Career

Ganay, and his father were both featured in James Tissot's 1868 group portrait painting The Circle of the Rue Royale. The painting depicted the gathering of the Circle of the Rue Royale, a male club founded in 1852 who commissioned the work, and takes place on one of the balconies of the Hôtel de Coislin, overlooking the Place de la Concorde. Each of the twelve subjects paid 1,000 francs for the painting to be made. Others in the painting included Gaston, Marquis de Galliffet, Prince Edmond de Polignac, the Comte Julien de Rochechouart, the Marquis René de Miramon, Baron Gaston de Saint-Maurice, Capt. Coleraine Vansittart, Baron Rodolphe Hottinguer, Marquis Alfred du Lau d'Allemans, Comte Alfred de La Tour-Maubourg, Charles Haas.
In 1893, he became the 5th Marquis of Ganay following the death of his elder brother who died without male issue. Like his father and grandfather before him, he was an art collector. In May 1910, his widow acquired Édouard Manet's 1879 Self-Portrait with Palette from the estate of Suzanne Manet, the artist's widow who had died in 1906. His heirs sold the painting to Jakob Goldschmidt in 1931.
The captain of La Korrigane, de Ganay also served as president of the Yacht Club de France, the oldest nautical club in France, and one of the most important yacht clubs in the world.

Personal life

In 1858, he was married to the American heiress and fellow art collector, Emily Ridgway. She was a daughter of John Jacob Ridgway of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and friend of writer Edith Wharton. Her aunt, Susanna Ridgway, a daughter of merchant Jacob Ridgway, was the second wife of Dr. John Rhea Barton. They bought the Château de Courances in 1895. Together, Ganay and his wife were the parents of:
The Marquis de Ganay died in 1903 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Jean who became the 6th Marquis de Ganay.

Descendants

Through his son Jean, he was a grandfather of Count Bernard de Ganay, who married Magdeleine Goüin.