Provenance

Carl Sternheim

German, 1878 - 1942

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Shown from about the knees up, a young woman sits in a chair angled to our right but she turns her face to look at us in this loosely painted, vertical portrait. Her chair has a rounded back and arms made from what looks like bent, woody vines, and the background is a solid field of pale aqua. Her dark hair is parted in the middle and tied at the nape of her neck with a red ribbon. Dark eyebrows curve over brown eyes, and she has a rounded nose, and her petal-pink lips are slightly parted. Her pale peach skin is tinged with green on her face and hands. Her right arm, on our left, rests along the arm of the chair. In her other hand, which rests in her lap, she holds a sprig of blooming oleander, with light pink flowers and green leaves. The bodice of her high-necked dress is striped with brick red and royal blue, and is lined with a row of round gold buttons down the front. The sleeves come down to her forearms and the cuffs and collar at her neck are white. Her full skirt is royal blue with pumpkin-orange dots. The brushwork is loose throughout and individual brushstrokes are visible, especially in the stripes of her bodice and the patchy peach tones that make up her skin.
Vincent van Gogh, La Mousmé, 1888, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.151

La Mousmé

Vincent van Gogh · 1888 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.151

Bibliography

1936

  • Sternheim, Carl. Vorkriegseuropa im Gleichnis meines Lebens. Amsterdman, 1936.

1995

  • Sternheim, Thea. Tagebücher 1905-1927. Die Jahre mit Carl Sternheim. Mainz, 1995.

1996

  • Pophanken, Andrea. "Privatsammler der französischen Moderne in München," in Manet bis van Gogh: Hugo von Tschudi und der Kampf um die Moderne. Exh. cat. Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1996:424-426.