Woman Seated in a Garden, ca. 1910

The synthetic style of his early work is sensitively related to that of the Nabis, rather than impressionism. Woman Seated in a Garden is a work from that period. Boutet de Monvel depicts an intimate scene with rough brushstrokes. A lady is sitting quietly at a garden table on a bench in the shade of the trees. She is probably holding a handiwork. This poetic scene shows the artist's love of decoration. The painting belonged to the collection of the art patron Fernand Scribe, who bought it at the auction of the Charles Boutet de Monvel collection in 1910 and bequeathed it, along with his extensive collection, to the museum in 1913.