Jacques Gonin

A Beautiful Lady

Louise Abbéma 1853–1927 Louise Abbéma (30 October 1853[1] – 10 July 1927) was a French painter, sculptor, and designer of the Belle Époque. Abbéma was born in Étampes, Essonne Born into a wealthy aristocratic Parisian family with close ties to the city’s artistic community, She began painting in her early teens, and studied under such notables of the period as Charles Joshua Chaplin, Jean-Jacques Henner and Carolus-Duran. Portraits of actors and actresses at the Comédie Française dominated her early works until she made a name for herself at the Salon of 1876 with her portrayal of the “Divine Sarah.” Abbéma ultimately executed multiple portraits and received recognition for her work at age 23 a bronze medallion of Sarah Bernhardt, with whom she was a close friend and possibly lover. Like most women artists of the time, Abbéma focused mainly on portraiture and genre scenes (images of everyday life). Her high-society portraits executed with a light touch and rapid brushstrokes reveal the academic and Impressionist influences that shaped her style. Her sitters included French diplomats and other notable members of society. Abbéma developed a variety of techniques using oil paints, pastel, and watercolor, and worked on various supports, including fans. Abbéma received commissions for panels and murals which adorned the Paris Town Hall, the Paris Opera House, numerous theatres including the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, and the "Palace of the Colonial Governor" at Dakar, Senegal. Abbéma solidified her international reputation after exhibiting works, including two wall murals (on canvas), at the Women’s Building at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. A bust of Sarah Bernhardt sculpted by Abbéma was also exhibited at the exposition. Abbéma specialized in oil portraits and watercolors, and many of her works showed the influence from Chinese and Japanese painters, as well as contemporary masters such as Édouard Manet. She frequently depicted flowers in her works. Among her best-known works are The Seasons, April Morning, Place de la Concorde, Among the Flowers, Winter, and portraits of actress Jeanne Samary, Emperor Dom Pedro...

Georges CAPGRAS This wonderful piece was exhibited at the Salon De L'Ecole Francaise. There is the exhibition label on the reverse. Picture size: 13 x 18" (32.5 x 46cm) Outside fram...

ROWLAND WHEELWRIGHT A beautiful painting by Roland Wheelwright in keeping with his traditional subject matter. This piece is a large and important example of his work and is not oft...

Segio Bissi Canvas Size: 28 x 20" (71 x 51cm) Outside Frame Size: 35 x 27" (89 x 69cm) Inscribed and signed on the reverse by the artist. Cirno Sergio Bissi was born in Carmignano (Florence) in 1902, died 1987...

Scott Conary's "Two" is an original, handmade impressionist still-life oil painting that depicts a steak resting on a cutting board, split perfectly in two against an abstracted whit...

Daylight is an example of the bright colors that Beckner uses in his paintings. Daylight makes you wonder what the figure in the painting is thinking. Jim Beckner’s art vibrates with the pulse of the city. His edgy and energetic paintings...

Wonderful 1965 portrait of a young man (possibly the artist Don Bachardy) in a striped shirt looking back over his shoulder by Paul Sorel (American, b- 1920...

Self-portrait of the artist, in a pensive seated pose, by Lise Lang Crowley (American, 20th century). Signed "L" lower right and signed "Lise Lang Crowley" on verso. Presented in a r...