Provenance

Galerie Barbazanges

Galerie Barbazanges

French, est. c. 1909

Explore selected works

Shown from the waist up, a woman with pale, peachy skin reads a book with one elbow propped on a grassy bank in this horizontal painting. The woman’s body is angled to our right, and she looks down at a pale green-covered book held in her right hand, which is in the lower left corner of the composition. The woman has dark brows over hooded eyes, and her dark brown hair falls loosely behind her shoulders. She has a round face, straight nose, and pale lips. She touches her hair with her left hand, to our right, with that pinky delicately crooked. One strap of a sleeveless, pearl-white chemise falls off the shoulder of that arm, and the dress nestles around her belly, revealing much of the other breast. Leafy trees and gray rocks are loosely painted behind her. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “G. Courbet.”
Gustave Courbet, A Young Woman Reading, c. 1866/1868, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.114

A Young Woman Reading

Gustave Courbet · c. 1866/1868 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.114

Four light-skinned ballerinas with russet-orange hair tied back in buns adjust the straps of their bodices as they gather close together, their bodies and wide, knee-length tutus taking up the left half of this horizontal painting. The background or backdrop beyond them shows a grove of deep green trees to our left and a sunset view of meadows leading back to trees to our right. Three of the dancers stand in a row that extends from the lower left corner to our right and away from us. All three wear rust-orange bodices over tutus that are painted loosely with flecks of pale celery green and buttercup yellow against a muted royal-blue background. Their bodices and upper bodies are outlined with black. The woman closest to us stands with her body angled to our right. Her face turns away as she looks to her left and adjusts that shoulder strap. The two dancers farther from us stand with their backs to us, their bodies angled away from us to our left. The middle dancer looks back over her right shoulder as she lifts the other elbow to adjust that strap. The third dancer in the row holds both hands to her right strap as she looks off into the distance, to our left. The fourth ballerina, to our far left beyond this trio, stands with the arm we can see, her left, lifted with her hand held high as she looks off to our right. Her bodice is a brighter carrot orange, and is more loosely painted. The green foliage behind the dancers extends off the top edge of the painting. The pale sage-green field to the right stretches before puffy, rounded trees daubed with mauve-pink highlights. The coral-pink and golden yellow sky is streaked with lavender-gray clouds. The artist signed his name in red paint with tiny, almost illegible letters in the lower right corner, “Degas.”
Edgar Degas, Four Dancers, c. 1899, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.122

Four Dancers

Edgar Degas · c. 1899 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.122

Against a hilly landscape and on a patch of dirt, five people wearing tattered clothing gather around a bearded man who holds a violin in his lap in this horizontal painting. Most of them have pale skin. Starting from the left is a barefoot young woman holding a blond baby to her chest. She faces our right, and her chestnut-brown hair hides her profile. She wears a black shirt over a calf-length skirt streaked with slate and aquamarine blue. To the right two young boys face us. The boy on the left of that pair wears a loose white shirt tucked into tan-colored pants and an upturned wide-brimmed hat. The boy next to him has short brown hair and is dressed in a black and brown vest and pants over a bone-white shirt. His right arm, to our left, is slung across the shoulders of the blond boy and he looks off to our right with dark, unfocused eyes. The man who holds the violin is to our right of center. He sits on a stone with his body facing our left, but he turns to look at us with dark eyes under heavy brows. He has tan skin, dark gray, curly hair, and a trimmed silvery gray beard. A wrinkle under one eye suggests he may smile slightly at us. He wears a loose brown cloak with a ragged bottom hem, teal-blue stockings, and black shoes. He holds a violin on his lap like a guitar. One hand fingers a chord on the neck of the violin, which comes toward us, and the other hand holds the bow and plucks a string. A sand-colored bag with a strap lies at his feet. Two men stand to our right of the musician. One wears a tall black top hat, a brown cloak, gray pants, and black shoes. His face is loosely and indistinctly painted but he has a beard. Finally, the sixth person is a man who stands along the right side of the painting and is cut off by that edge. He wears a turban, a black polka-dotted scarf, and a long black cloak or coat. One hand clutches the scarf and the other rests on a wooden cane by his side. His chin and long, light-colored beard tuck back against the scarf, and he looks off to our left with dark eyes. There are loosely painted olive and forest-green leaves in the upper left corner. The landscape beyond is painted with indistinct areas of muted green, blue, and brown. Bits of azure-blue sky peek through puffy white and gray clouds overhead. The artist signed and dated the lower right, “ed. Manet 1862.”
Edouard Manet, The Old Musician, 1862, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.162

The Old Musician

Edouard Manet · 1862 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.162

A dark-haired, disembodied head of a haloed man with pale, peach skin floats against a red and yellow background in this vertical portrait. The man’s hair seems to be flattened against his forehead, and extends beyond his head at the back in a way that suggests it may become a cap or hood. His face turns toward us, and he looks down to our left under arched eyebrows. He has a prominent hooked nose and a brushy mustache. Behind his head, the background is divided into a tomato-red zone for the top half and a golden yellow field below, separated by a thin, pine-green line. Two red and green apples hang from a branch near the upper right corner. The thin yellow halo floats over his head to the left of the branch. A pine-green, stylized, vine-like form curves up from the bottom edge of the panel and ends with flat, sunshine yellow, square shapes, perhaps abstracted flowers or fruit. A hand near the lower right holds one end of the vine like a cigarette between fingertips. The vine seems to turn into a serpent’s head beyond the man’s fingers. Numbers and letters are painted in green in the lower left: “1889” and “P Go.”
Paul Gauguin, Self-Portrait, 1889, oil on wood, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.150

Self-Portrait

Paul Gauguin · 1889 · oil on wood ·  Accession ID  1963.10.150

The sculpture depicts the bust of a young child with a full head of hair. Their facial features are simply rendered, with a subtle expression. The color of the sculpture is a dark, slightly glossy finish. The sculpture is mounted on a square pedestal base and is oriented in a direct, frontal manner. The combination of the smooth surface of the face against the detailed hair creates a realistic representation in three-dimensional space.
Auguste Renoir, Richard Guino, Claude Renoir ("Coco"), 1908, bronze, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.242

Claude Renoir ("Coco")

Auguste Renoir, Richard Guino · 1908 · bronze ·  Accession ID  1963.10.242

This drawing shows a woman seated on a cushioned bench, facing us with her arms across her lap and her legs crossed. She has dark eyebrows, a long nose, and round lips that seem to be closed in a neutral expression. Her skin is drawn in layered lines of white, pale peach, and pink, and she has short, dark, wavy hair. She is wearing a white-and-yellow top with black straps and a pleated blue skirt. A colorful shawl is wrapped around her left shoulder and her waist, with pink and green floral patterns on a white background and a line of fringe at the bottom. She wears a yellow necklace, a blue bracelet, and black shoes with a white clasp or ornament on top. The wall behind her is decorated with blue, white, and pink floral designs and vertical lines in green and pale blue tones, and the floor below her has diamond-shaped floor tiles in shades of pink, orange, cream, tan, and dark blue. On the left is a potted plant with green and yellow leaves in a brown pot.
Henri Matisse, Woman with an Exotic Plant, c. 1925, pastel on wove paper coated with sawdust, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.170

Woman with an Exotic Plant

Henri Matisse · c. 1925 · pastel on wove paper coated with sawdust ·  Accession ID  1963.10.170

Shown from the hips up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a tightly corseted dress looks off to our left in this vertical pastel drawing. The portrait is loosely sketched with blended areas, giving it a soft look. The woman’s body is angled to our left, and her hands touch in front of her lower belly. She looks off with large, wide set, slightly bulging green eyes under dark brows. She has a round face, full pink lips, and the suggestion of a dimple in her chin. Her dark brown hair is pulled up under a gold band, and bangs curl across her forehead. A short, delicate ringlet curls up the nape of her neck. She wears a light-colored, round earring in the ear we see and a string of pearls, which may hold a round jewel that rests in the hollow of her throat. Her dress is powder blue down the front and coffee bean brown to either side and on the sleeves. The edges of the brown sections are lined with flowers drawn loosely in shades of pastel pink, blue, yellow, and green. The low, curving neckline is edged with white ruffles, and the waist is cinched to an almost startling degree. The sleeves come down just past her elbow, and the cuffs are also lined with white ruffles. Long, tan-colored gloves stretch back to the cuffs. The background is fog gray. The artist signed and dated the pastel faintly in the lower left corner, “Manet 1882.”
Edouard Manet, Madame Michel-Lévy, 1882, pastel on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.161

Madame Michel-Lévy

Edouard Manet · 1882 · pastel on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.161

A light-skinned man and woman stand looking at each other, surrounded by blooming flowers and lush green trees in this square landscape painting. The palette is dominated by shades of vibrant green and blue, and is loosely painted with daubs and short strokes, making details indistinct. The people stand to our left of center and both are dressed in navy blue. The man stands facing our right, almost in profile, and bends forward slightly with one hand gesturing toward the flowers. He wears a vest and trousers, a white shirt, and a butterscotch-gold hat. The woman stands near him to our right, and faces us with her head turned to look at the man. She wears a long gown, a cherry-red hat, andwhat appears to be a denim-blue and cherry-red scarf around her neck. The trees fill right half of the painting, and the profusion of flowering bushes closest to us almost spans the width of the scene. Their blooms are suggested with touches of rose and petal pink, cream white, mustard yellow, and azure blue. More flowering bushes behind the man and woman are suggested by loosely painted areas of parchment white and laurel green, with scattered dots of poppy red. Pale pink clouds swirl through the topaz-blue sky in the upper left corner. The artist signed the painting in the lower right, “Renoir.”
Auguste Renoir, Picking Flowers, 1875, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.61

Picking Flowers

Auguste Renoir · 1875 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.61

Bibliography

1986

  • White, Palmer. Poiret le Magnifique. Trans. by Didier Martin. Paris, 1986:97, 103.

2003

  • Troy, Nancy J. Couture Culture: A Study in Modern Art and Fashion. Cambridge, 2003:42.