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Young Woman Powdering Herself

Maker

(Artists)
1859-1891

Title

Date of Production

c. 1888-90

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

Height: 95.5 cm (canvas)
Width: 79.5 cm (canvas)

Accession Number

P.1932.SC.396

Mode of Acquisition

Samuel Courtauld, gift, 1932

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

On display

Keywords

powder

cosmetics
powder puffs

Label Text

This work is the only major portrait painted by Georges Seurat, who died at the age of 31. It depicts his companion, Madeleine Knobloch, applying make-up. The theme of nature and artifice, represented by the use of cosmetics, is echoed in Seurat’s distinctive technique, called ‘pointillism’. He applied a ‘skin’ of coloured dots to the surface of his work to animate it and create volume. Following newly formulated optical theories, he placed colours from opposite sides of the colour wheel - orange and blue, pink and green - next to each other for greater contrast. In the frame above the sitter’s head was once a mirror showing the reflection of Seurat at his easel. After being ridiculed by a friend, Seurat replaced it with a vase of flowers, painting over his only known self-portrait.

Provenance

Mlle Madeleine Knobloch, Paris; Félix Fénéon, Paris; Dikran Khan Kélékian, Paris; Kélékian Sale, American Art Association, New York, 31 January 1923 (lot 154); Eugene O M Liston, New York; Percy Moore Turner, London; John Quinn, New York; Paul Rosenberg, Paris; French Gallery, London; purchased by Samuel Courtauld 1926; Samuel Courtauld Gift, 1932

Exhibition History

To be displayed with permanent collection during closure period, National Galleries of Scotland, 18/06/2019-01/09/2020

The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019

Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne, National Gallery, London, 17/09/2018-20/01/2019 ...More

Into the 20th century - New Displays at the Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 10/10/2002

Art Nouveau 1890-1914, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 14/06/2000-21/09/2000

The Courtauld Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 14/06/1998-21/09/1998

The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998

Impressionism for England - Samuel Courtauld as Patron and
Collector, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 16/06/1994-25/09/1994 ...Less

Literature

The Courtauld Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1998

Inscriptions

Inscription: inscription : signed : bottom right & recto : on painted border : Seurat

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