Lady with Flowers on her Hat, n. d.

The portrait of lady in profile by Belgian painter Théo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) takes the viewer back to the era of the Bell Époque. The flower-adorned hat with waving ribbons gives a palpable sense of the wind, and the coloration recalls an impression of warm bright sunlight, as is typical of the beach. Van Rysselberghe had moved to Paris in 1897. In the following two years, he spent the summer months in Ambleteuse near Boulogne-sur-Mer in the north of France, dedicating himself to plein-air painting. The oil study with unpainted areas in the grounding served the preparation of a series of portraits created between 1898 and 1901. While the atmosphere of the sketch is charmingly imbued with spontaneity and airiness, Van Rysselberghe executed his painting in pointillistic manner.

AK, 2021