Louis ANQUETIN (Etrepagny 1861 - Paris 1932) Lot n° 10

Portrait of Lili Grenier, 1889 Original oil on canvas 73 x 60 cm Signed and dated lower left Anquetin 89 Bears on the back the stencil mark of the canvas dealer Rey Perrod in Paris Bears on the back the handwritten mention in white chalk N°3 Portrait Bears on the frame the old label of Brame et Lorenceau, Exhibition Louis Anquetin March 26 - April 20, 1991; n° 13, Portrait of Lili Grenier Lili Grenier, born on October 9, 1853, was Albert Grenier's companion when Louis Anquetin painted her portrait in 1889. Her meeting with the community of artists of the Cormon studio was done through her future husband, Albert Grenier, who immediately introduced her to his comrades of the Cormon studio; Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauzi, Anquetin... Instantly, she became their muse because of her beauty and her independent character, which perfectly matched the lively and joyful atmosphere that animated the group of artists. The painter and photographer, François Gauzi, in his memoirs on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, describes the charms of the muse in these words: "In 1888, redheaded women, bountiful rumps, glorious nipples, were in fashion. Lily Grenier, in addition to her hair, was made to the taste of the day; she knew it and these qualities made her proud, unashamed and full of spirit. Lili had the opportunity to meet her friends at 19 rue Fontaine in Albert Grenier's studio, but also during stays in the country at Villers-sur-Morin where she owned two houses that allowed her to generously receive her artist friends. Lili liked to pose for the photographer François Gauzi but tended to shun the brush of her very close friend Toulouse Lautrec whose cruelty she feared. As for Anquetin, she allowed him to make this beautiful portrait of her sitting in majesty. Lili's face is painted with great delicacy, the features are finely modeled and contrast with the rest of the body and the background treated with a more energetic touch. This contrast highlights the attention that the painter pays to the realization of the face of his muse and brings out all its sensuality. Lili is dressed in a negligee with remarkable harmonies of white, characteristic of the models who posed at the time. Our eye is drawn to the foreground where Lili's hand is deliberately left unfinished by the painter. This bold representation may have been inspired by Edouard Manet, who used to paint hands in sketches. We also find this freedom of expression in a work by Edgar Degas, entitled Young Woman with Red Hair. Beyond this similarity, it is interesting to note that Degas often had as a model Lili Grenier who lived in the same building as the painter on rue Fontaine. The voluptuousness of the body and the draped curves are contrasted with the rigor of the Louis XIII armchair with the colored tapestry on which the model is sitting. The back of the armchair and the background are treated on the same plane. The juxtaposition of colors creates a decorative pattern that disturbs the perspective and the feeling of depth. During this period, artists were increasingly influenced by Japanese prints. We find this Japanese atmosphere in one of the rare portraits of Lili Grenier by Toulouse-Lautrec, kept at the MOMA in New York, in which the painter represents Lili under the trappings of a Japanese woman in kimono. This portrait is both official because of Lili's upright and frontal posture, but also very intimate because of the way she is dressed and the intimate relationship she had with the painter. Beyond being a simple muse she will have been a true friend to this community of painters with intense artistic effervescence, as the modernity of this portrait attests. Provenance: Albert and Lili Grenier Collection Private collection, always remained in the family by inheritance Exhibitions: Eighth Salon of the Society of Independent Artists, Pavillon de la ville de Paris, March-April 1892. Anquetin chez Cubat, Paris, May 1897, n° 2. Galerie Brame et Lorenceau, Exhibition Louis Anquetin, 26 March - 20 April 1991, n° 13. Toulouse Lautrec et ses amis, exhibition, Albi, Musée Toulouse Lautrec, March 21 - May 31, 1992, catalog by Daniele Devinck, n°3 page 17. Toulouse-Lautrec and his circle, Daniele Devynck, Bunkamura, The Bunkamura Museum of Art from 10/11/2009 to 23/12/2009 - Kitakyusha, Kitakyusha Municipal Museum of Art, Riverwalk Gallery from 02/01/2010 to 07/02/2010 - Hiroshima, Hiroshima Museum of Art from 13/02/2010 to 22/03/2010, n°11. Bibliography: Raoul Sertat, in la revue encyclopédique, 1892, p 1103, reproduced