Portrait of Marguerite Van Mons, 1886

Théo Van Rysselberghe painted the Portrait of Marguerite Van Mons in 1886 when the girl was ten years old. She was the youngest daughter of the art patron, Emile Van Mons and the sister of Camille, whose portrait Van Rysselberghe was painting simultaneously (Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum in Hannover). The portraits were painted soon after the girls’ mother had died and are dedicated to their father. Marguerite Van Mons would subsequently marry Thomas Braun, a lawyer, poet and collector. This portrait is part of a series of transitional works, dating from 1885–1887. During this period Van Rysselberghe tried his hand at various styles before converting to pointillism in 1888. The mood of some of the works from this period tended to be rather melancholic and symbolist. The geometric background and Van Rysselberghe’s experiments with the colour black indicate that he was inspired by James McNeill Whistler, who was invited to exhibit with Les Vingt from 1884 onwards. The refined technique and the light, colours are reminiscent of the portraits of Fernand Khnopff.