"Portrait of a woman"

Pastel drawing depicting the figure of a young woman in front of a landscape, signed. The painting shows a bust of a woman en face, her head is slightly tilted to her right shoulder. Her face is subtly highlighted with pink powder. The woman has dark hair pinned back. A small silver chain with two pearl pendants hangs from her neck. The woman wears a white boa made of ostrich feathers. The author uses chiaroscuro to emphasise the reflections on her neck, hair and boa. The woman's smile and melancholic atmosphere are gently emphasised.

Signed, signature illegible - Deaumer Dovimer.

Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer (1865-1953), a French painter and printmaker born in 1865 in Algiers, French Algeria, created works in a similar style. He was a leading representative of fin-de-siècle symbolism and Art Nouveau. His works include paintings, drawings, ceramics, furniture and interior design, and he worked as a lithographer. In 1879 he began to study drawing and sculpture in Paris. From 1887 he stayed in the south of France where he worked mainly with ceramics. In 1895 he returned to Paris and devoted himself to painting. His work included symbolic and portrait paintings, and he was also inspired by Pre-Raphaelite, mythological and musical themes. His work can be found in the most important museums, in particular the Louvre, the Petit-Palais, and the Orsay.

Yulia Dushka