Lot 21 Dα

While visiting Félix Vallotton in 1900, Edouard Vuillard met the Belgian-born Jos (Joseph) Hessel and his wife Lucy. Jos Hessel - cousin of the Bernheim brothers and head of the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, where Vuillard regularly exhibited his work from 1903 - became an important supporter of the painter, his exclusive gallerist and a close friend. However, his wife quickly went on to become not only Vuillard's confidante, muse and preferred model, but also his lover in a long-term relationship. This did not spoil the friendship between the painter and her husband. The artist went in and out of the Hessel's house as he pleased, and their liaison was an open secret.
Vuillard created portraits of Jos Hessel alone as well as together with his wife and family. However, it was primarily of Lucy by herself that he created numerous images over the course of four decades. Enthralled by her beauty and elegance, he painted her in a great variety of situations - usually within the noble interiors of her house, surrounded by exquisite paintings and furnishings, but also sitting outdoors or strolling, at her milliner's or during her manicure.
The bust-length portrait presented here is reduced entirely to her person. A hat adorned with pink roses completes her elegant attire. The bouquet of violas that she holds in her hands stands out against the white lace trim of her dress and corresponds with the blue of the merely suggested background.