After Aimée Brune-Pagés

After AIMEÉ BRUNE-PAGÉS (Paris, 1803-1866).
"Portrait of a young man".
Oil on canvas. Restored
With initials A.B.P.
Measurements: 230 x 141 cm; 272 x 187 cm (frame).

In this splendid painting realized after Aimée Brune-Pagés, the author transcends the genre of the portrait to give us a testimony of the bourgeoisie of the time, a delicate and polite image that catches the eye of the spectator. As Brune-Pagés did in his production, the author of our work emphasizes the personality of the protagonist, making a psychological study of the model, in which he shows the woman with great distinction and sobriety. Her posture, however, denotes modernity: she rests her left arm on a high console of marquetry and turned columns, whose lower shelf houses a large Chinese vase. The artist applies a short and precise brushstroke on the drawing, especially noticeable in the neckline with the shoulders partially uncovered of the strict black dress, in the Elizabethan earrings that adorn her neck or in the bracelets that embellish her wrist. In spite of being a monochrome portrait, with earth, black and greenish colors, the artist emphasizes the colorful floral bouquet.

The painter Aimée Brune-Pagés trained with Charles Meynier. She began exhibiting at the Paris Salon in 1822 with "Psyché lèvee par Zéphir". She was awarded a second class medal in 1834 and a first class medal in 1838. She also collaborated with her husband, Christian Brune. Her "Study of a Woman" was the first painting of a woman to enter the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Orleans. Works by Madame Brune can be found in the galleries of Versailles, the Portrait of Monsieur de Pontchartrain, made from a painting preserved in the castle of Beauregard; the Portrait of Mademoiselle Leclermont from Nattier - and that of Lieutenant General Count Morand - in the Museum of Troyes, the Vœu, donated by the government after the Salon of 1837.