Virginie DEMONT-BRETON (Courrières, 1859 - Paris, 1935) Young Girl Emerging from the Sea Oil on canvas (Original canvas) Signed 'Virginie Demont-Breton' lower left Bears the number '100' on the frame In its original wood and gilded stucco frame Young girl emerging from the sea, oil on canvas, signed, by V. Demont-Breton 21.65 x 17.32 in. 55 x 44 cm Provenance: Anonymous sale; Orléans, Me Savot, 20 May 1995 ; Private collection, Ile-de-France Virginie Demont-Breton was one of the leading figures in a community of artists now commonly referred to as the Opal Coast painters, active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in this coastal region of northern France. Our artist stands out from this group for his many compositions depicting families and children at the beach, bathing or playing in the sand. Our painting is precisely one of these works, so characteristic of our artist. Here, she offers us the simple, delightful moment of a child emerging from the water to pick up the clothes she had left on a rock while swimming. A sketch for our painting, focusing on the young girl's face and painted on panel, recently came onto the art market (see anonymous sale; Toulouse, Primardeco, 27 September 2024, no. 11). Virginie DEMONT-BRETON (Courrières, 1859 - Paris, 1935) 55 x 44 cm