Flora | MSK Gent
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Flora

  • charcoal, Conté crayon, pastel (material), gouache, paper
  • 380 x 315 mm
  • Inv. 1929-C

Public Domain

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This portrait of a woman is typical of the art of Eugène Smits. The rendering of the features is realistic, with emphasis on the nose and chin, which are a little heavy, and the thick lips. The untied hair and the barely sketched mass of flowers crowning the hair lend a certain charm to this somewhat unattractive face. The composition is reminiscent of the art of the 17th-century masters, who in Flanders as well as in the Northern Netherlands were fond of this type of allegorical portrait. Eugène Smits subtly uses pencil to sketch a modelled and shaded face, which contrasts with the more nervous and vigorous features that reflect the hairstyle. A few highlights of watercolour and white and blue gouache suggest the drapery covering the young woman's chest and the flower petals on her forehead.

Artist

Eugène Smits RKD
Antwerp 1826 - Brussels 1912
draftsmen (artists)AAT

Title Flora
Period 19th century
20th century
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings signatures (names) bottom right: E. Smits
Collection print room
Object type gouache AAT
charcoal drawings AAT
pastels (visual works) AAT
pencil drawings AAT
Inventory number 1929-C
Acquisition credit gift
The Friends of the Museum
Ghent
1929
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1929-C
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/1150/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300417629 mythologies (religious concept) AAT
Keywords Iconclass 31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass
31D120 Youth, Adolescence, 'Iuventus'; 'Adolescenza', 'Gioventu' (Ripa) Iconclass
31D13 adolescent, young woman, maiden Iconclass
41D221(FLOWER HAT) head-gear (FLOWER HAT) Iconclass
92 gods ~ classical mythology Iconclass
96A23 (story of) Flora Iconclass
School / Style realism (artistic form of expression) AAT
Catalogus van het Museum van Schoone Kunsten Gent : II: Moderne Meesters / Georges Chabot, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Ad. Hoste, 1932 (p. 135)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Tekeningen, pastels en aquarellen; Inventaris / Moniek Nagels. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 1988 (p. 45)
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