Reader on a Black Background

Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse (French, 1869-1954): Reader on a Black Background, 1918 (Oil on canvas) - Matisse, trained at École de Paris, was identified with Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Les Fauves… A lover of all art, he immersed himself in the work of his fellow painters, and often got himself into debt buying the work of other artists…

His work, characterized as “fauvre,” or wild, often met with harsh criticism, which made it hard for him to provide for his family. Also, he had loving followers, including Gertrude Stein and her family. Throughout the years of 1907-1911, his friends organized and financed an art school, Academie Matisse, in which Matisse could instruct young artists…

Miss Flora

Anna Ewers in “Miss Flora” for Vogue Germany, March 2016 - by Patrick Demarchelier

Le jardin du Petit Gennevilliers en hiver

Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848-1894): Le jardin du Petit Gennevilliers en hiver, 1894 - Caillebotte was a French painter, member and patron of the artists known as Impressionists, although he painted in a much more realistic manner than many other artists in the group. Caillebotte was noted for his early interest in photography as an art form…

Nu au divan rouge - Nude on Red Sofa

Émilie Charmy (French, 1878-1974): Nu au divan rouge (Nude on Red Sofa), 1925 - Émilie  Charmy charted a  remarkable  course  in  the  world  of  French modern art in the first half of the twentieth century… Fauve painters defined Charmy’s art… Afterward, her mature style was characterized both by an adherence to the traditional genres  of portraiture,  the  nude,  landscape,  and  still  life,  and a  modernist  notion  of direct, vigorous paint application as a mark of artistic sincerity. This attitude found its ultimate expression in Charmy’s numerous renderings of the female nude which, by  virtue  of  their  intense  sensuality,  confounded  prevailing  expectations  about  the  nature of women’s art…