Marie BRACQUEMOND (Landunvez, 1840 - Sèvres, 1916) Study for 'The painter (James Tissot?) and his model in a flower garden', also known as 'Étude d'après nature' - circa 1880 Black pencil and red chalk on pink paper Signed 'MarieB' lower left No frame 42.0 x 30.0 cm This large sheet directly prepares the figure of the painter at work occupying the right-hand side of one of the paintings that Marie Bracquemond presented at the Impressionist exhibition of 1880, and which was one of the highlights of our first sale. Displayed under the evocative title of "Étude d'après nature", the painting inevitably evokes the pleinairism so dear to Impressionism. The singular, elegant physiognomy of the artist captured here inevitably brings to mind James Tissot, recognisable by his wispy hair and moustache. Tissot had already assimilated the innovations of the Parisian avant-garde in the 1860s, adding a certain Victorian aesthetic that was very much in vogue across the Channel, and like Marie Bracquemond, he was constantly concerned to combine traditional craftsmanship with a resolutely modern vision. Marie BRACQUEMOND (Landunvez, 1840 - Sèvres, 1916) 42.0 x 30.0 cm This large sheet directly prepares the figure of the painter at work occupying the right-hand side of one of the paintings that Marie Bracquemond presented at the Impressionist exhibition of 1880, and which was one of the highlights of our first sale. Displayed under the evocative title of "Étude d'après nature", the painting inevitably evokes the pleinairism so dear to Impressionism. The singular, elegant physiognomy of the artist captured here inevitably brings to mind James Tissot, recognisable by his wispy hair and moustache. Tissot had already assimilated the innovations of the Parisian avant-garde in the 1860s, adding a certain Victorian aesthetic that was very much in vogue across the Channel, and like Marie Bracquemond, he was constantly concerned to combine traditional craftsmanship with a resolutely modern vision.