Word(s) of the Day: “As Drunk as Chloé”

A thread on Chloé

The expression “as drunk as Chloé” became popular in Australia because of a famous painting, ‘Chloé’ by Jules Joseph Lefebvre, (1875). Although evidence of the expression existed before 1875, it seems the Chloés merged.

This is ‘Chloé’ by Jules Joseph Lefebvre. The model was called Marie, not Chloé and she was 19 years old when she posed for Lefebvre. The painting was initially a huge success and exhibited in the Paris Salon. Lefebvre won the Gold Medal of Honour in 1875.

Chloé was subsequently exhibited as the French Gallery at the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 and the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880.

Dr. Thomas Fitzgerald of Melbourne, purchased the picture for 850 guineas but religious groups, like the Presbyterian Assembly, found the painting too obscene to be shown on Sundays, and she had to be taken down from public display.

When Fitzgerald died in 1908, the painting was sold to Norman Figsby Young, who then sold it to Henry Young and Thomas Jackson, who hung the painting in the bar of their hotel - the Young and Jackson Hotel in Melbourne.

Chloé became something of an icon amongst soldiers during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Thousands of soldiers came to the Young and Jackson Hotel to raise a glass to her. She even received love letters from the trenches in France.

American soldiers went as far as coming up with a plan to abduct her

But what of Marie the model? Well, it’s not a happy ending, I’m afraid. Not much is know about her, but she was of Persian decent and modelled for artists to support herself and her sister.

No one is quite sure of the nature of the relationship between Marie and Jules Joseph Lefebvre, but it was almost certainly romantic. But one year after the painting was finished, Lefebvre married her sister!

The following year, Marie hosted a party with close friends, when she suddenly excused herself and drank poison. The exact reason for her suicide remains unknown but at the time it was speculated that her unrequited love for Lefebvre was the cause.

Chloé the painting is still at the Young and Jackson Hotel in Melbourne, where she will remain forever. In 1988, the National Trust and Heritage of Victoria recognised her as an artwork of historical significance.

You can still see her there today, while you enjoy a few and get ‘as drunk as Chloé’.