Marie BRACQUEMOND (Argenton-en-Landunvez, 1840 - Sèvres, 1916) Self-portrait, also known as 'Lady with a Fan Charcoal and white gouache highlights on two sheets of paper joined together Annotation in ink on verso (Slightly oiled, wetness) Without frame 26.5 x 29.5 cm Exhibitions: Marie Bracquemond, Bernheim-Jeune 1919, cat. no. 134: "Portrait de Marie Bracquemond" [reproduced on the flyleaf of the catalogue]. One of the few sheets reproduced in the Bernheim-Jeune exhibition catalogue of 1919, this striking self-portrait of Marie, etched in 1880, can probably be dated to the years following the Bracquemond couple's marriage in 1869. Combining charcoal with a few highlights of white gouache, the artist depicts herself seated, wearing a black dress and holding a large fan spread out in front of her bust. In a resolutely modern form of minimalism, Marie dispensed with any staging, décor or furniture, leaving only her own figure on the page. In this way, she gives pride of place to the strong, enigmatic expression on her face. In addition to her black eyes, she suggests in a few subtle milliner's strokes her hair up and tied in an elegant chignon, arousing the admiration of Gustave Geffroy: "Her portraits complete her real presence, [...] the truthful portraits she made of herself, [...] where the young woman is radiant with life, intelligence, the splendid ardour of living<a href="#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^{<strong><i>[1]</i></strong>}</a>. " <a href="#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> Gustave Geffroy, in Exp. Marie Bracquemond, Bernheim-Jeune 1919. Marie BRACQUEMOND (Argenton-en-Landunvez, 1840 - Sèvres, 1916) 26.5 x 29.5 cm One of the rare sheets reproduced in the Bernheim-Jeune exhibition catalogue of 1919, this striking etching of Marie's self-portrait, engraved in 1880, can probably be dated to the years following the Bracquemond couple's marriage in 1869. Combining charcoal with a few highlights of white gouache, the artist depicts herself seated, wearing a black dress and holding a large fan spread out in front of her bust. In a resolutely modern form of minimalism, Marie dispensed with any staging, décor or furniture, leaving only her own figure on the page. In this way, she gives pride of place to the strong, enigmatic expression on her face. In addition to her black eyes, she suggests in a few subtle milliner's strokes her hair up and tied in an elegant chignon, arousing the admiration of Gustave Geffroy: "Her portraits complete her real presence, [...] the truthful portraits she made of herself, [...] where the young woman is radiant with life, intelligence, the splendid ardour of living<a href="#_ftn1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^{<strong><em>[1]</em></strong>}</a>. " <a href="#_ftnref1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[1]</a> Gustave Geffroy, in Exp. Marie Bracquemond, Bernheim-Jeune 1919.