Sarah Henrietta Purser, Irish, 1848-1943
Title: Le Petit Déjeuner
Date: 1881
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
35 x 27 cm
Credit Line: Bequeathed, Mr R. I. Best, 1959
Object Number: NGI.1424
DescriptionThe absence from this picture of a distinct narrative is consistent with paintings of French interiors of the period, as is the fact that the identity of the sitter is known. Many late nineteenth-century painters, several Impressionists among them, used friends and family members as models or painted informal portraits of them in domestic settings. The sitter in this instance is Maria Feller, who shared an apartment in Paris with Purser and the Swiss artists Louise Breslau and Sophie Schaeppi. Feller, the daughter of an Italian count, was teaching music at the time. She had earlier sat for a painting by Breslau entitled 'Tout passe', which featured at the Paris Salon.
Feller’s rather vacant expression suggests ennui rather than contemplation. This was a recurring motif in painting of the period, and calls to mind in particular works by Edgar Degas, an artist Purser is known to have admired greatly. Degas was among many artists to paint solitary young women in interior settings, whose appearance communicated the dislocation experienced by many in the rapidly expanding urban environment. The setting for Purser’s painting, featuring among other items a gilt-framed mirror, a fine china cup and a porcelain lamp, is bourgeois but modest, as is the young woman’s attire. On her return to Dublin, Purser established herself as a much sought-after portrait painter and champion of the arts.

March 2016



ProvenanceMr R.I. Best, bought at Mespil sale; bequeathed, Mr R.I. Best, 1959
Exhibition HistoryIrish Fine Arts Society, Dublin 1881

Belfast Art Society, Belfast, 1892-1896

Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, 1909

Irish Art, White Chapel Art Gallery, London, 1913

Exposition d'Art Irlandais, Galeries Barbazanges, Paris, 1922

Pictures Old and New Exhibition, 1923

Exposition d'Art Irlandais, Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, 1930

Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, 1944

Ierse schilders der 19e en 20e eeuw, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1951

Lane Bequest Exhibition, Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1970-1971

Aspects of Irish Art, a Loan Exhibition; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, 27 January - 3 March 1974; Toledo Museum of Arts, Toledo, Ohio, 17 March - 14 April 1974; St Louis Art Museum, St Louis, Missouri, 3 May - 9 June 197

The Irish Impressionists: Irish Artists in France and Belgium 1850-1914, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 9 October - 18 November 1984; Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1 February - 10 March 1985

Onlookers in France: Irish Realist and Impressionist Painters, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, 1 October - 22 November 1993
Label TextMany late nineteenth-century artists painted informal portraits of friends and family members in domestic settings. The sitter here is Maria Feller, music teacher and daughter of an Italian count, who shared an apartment in Paris with Purser and the Swiss artists Louise Breslau and Sophie Schaeppi. She had earlier sat for a painting by Breslau entitled Tout passe, which featured at the Paris Salon. Urban ennui was a recurring motif in painting of the period, and characterises several works by Edgar Degas, who Purser is known to have admired greatly.
Label TextPurser studied at the Académie Julian in 1878-79. In Paris, her friends included the Swiss artist Louise Breslau and the Italian musician Maria Feller, who was the model for this picture. Although Purser went on to become an established portrait painter in her native Ireland, this picture is not a portrait. The title, meaning The Breakfast, indicates that it is intended to be viewed as a depiction of an everyday moment. The subject matter and the woman’s distant expression may have been inspired by pictures of contemporary women by Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot, both of whom Purser knew in Paris.

This website uses cookies

We use optional cookies to enhance your user experience and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services.

Details

About Cookies

Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages. You can at any time change or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website. Learn more about who we are, how you can contact us and how we process personal data in our Privacy Policy. Please state your consent ID and date when you contact us regarding your consent.

Necessary Cookies

Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.

NameProviderPurposeExpiryType
JSESSIONIDeMuseumUser SessionSessionHTTP

Statistics Cookies

Statistic cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.

NameProviderPurposeExpiryType
_gaGoogle Tag ManagerRegisters a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.2 yearsJavaScript
_gidGoogle Tag ManagerRegisters a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.1 dayJavaScript