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
|
|---|---|
| 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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