Lucy Hessel is shown here in an interior scene, seated in a chair, her left arm resting on the chair back, which shifts her entire body and confers a detached attitude with a certain self-assurance, leaving us to imagine that she is fixedly gazing at someone outside of the frame and with whom she is engaged in conversation. In the foreground, the dog – a symbol of loyalty in painting since the Middle Ages – adds a spontaneous, intimate dimension to the scene which appears more impromptu for it.

Christie’s

As the double title of the work suggests, this is not just a portrait of Madame Hessel, but Bonnard also seizes the opportunity to make a pictorial study of the scarlet red dress worn by the model, which occupies almost half of the composition and practically becomes a subject in and of itself. The bright red, which also appears on her lips, is made even more striking through its contrast with a very loose background in grey tones – save for part of the door frame and a gilded frame on the wall – and with the model’s porcelain skin tone. 

Christie’s

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Best viewed At Sunnyside

 

Details

• Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) French
• Portrait de Madame Hessel ou La Dame en Rouge
• Les Nabis
• signed and dated ‘Bonnard 1901’ (upper right)
• 110 x 79.9 cm., 43 ¼ x 31 ½ in.
• oil on board laid down on cradled panel
• Painted in 1901
• Source: Christie’s
• Link: https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/paintings/pierre-bonnard-portrait-de-madame-hessel-ou-6131188-details.aspx?from=salesummery&intobjectid=6131188&sid=b6db06c9-b011-42db-900a-ed85ae09898a

Read More

The Nabis at ArtStory

Les Nabis At Sunnyside

Pierre Bonnard at The Art Story

 

Thanks for Visiting 🙂

~Sunnyside