Kees van Dongen, Dutch, 1877-1968
Title: Stella in a Flowered Hat
Date: c.1907
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
65 x 54 cm
Signed: centre left: Van Dongen
Credit Line: Purchased, 1981 (Shaw Fund)
Object Number: NGI.4355
DescriptionVan Dongen trained at the Royal Academy of Arts in Rotterdam before moving to Paris in 1897. He was among the group of artists associated with Henri Matisse and André Derain who exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in 1905. Their paintings, with their bold colours and unmodulated forms, were so shocking to critics that the group came to be known as the ‘Fauves’ (Wild Beasts).
Van Dongen painted many portraits of women in the Fauve manner, particularly dancers and performers. Inspired by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, he found his models and subject matter in the bars and cafés of Montmartre and other Bohemian districts of Paris. ‘Stella’, with her coquettish pose and sideways glance, most likely portrays one of the women who frequented such places. Her large hat and choker, mask-like makeup and red-tinged eyes suggest that she may be a demimondaine. Van Dongen uses bright, dissonant colours to delineate her form and features. The touches of green in the skin tones is a feature common to Fauve portraits; Van Dongen would have known Matisse’s Woman in a Hat (1905; San Francisco Museum of Art) when he painted this work.
March 2016
Van Dongen painted many portraits of women in the Fauve manner, particularly dancers and performers. Inspired by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, he found his models and subject matter in the bars and cafés of Montmartre and other Bohemian districts of Paris. ‘Stella’, with her coquettish pose and sideways glance, most likely portrays one of the women who frequented such places. Her large hat and choker, mask-like makeup and red-tinged eyes suggest that she may be a demimondaine. Van Dongen uses bright, dissonant colours to delineate her form and features. The touches of green in the skin tones is a feature common to Fauve portraits; Van Dongen would have known Matisse’s Woman in a Hat (1905; San Francisco Museum of Art) when he painted this work.
March 2016
ProvenanceDr A. Rudinesco, Paris; Collection Samy Chalom, Paris; Lord Rendlesham; purchased, Sotheby's, London, 2 December 1981, lot 42
Exhibition History19th and 20th Century Paintings, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, 1961
Exhibition of Acquisitions 1981-1982, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 30 September 1982 - 2 January 1983
Kees van Dongen, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, 1990
French 19th and 20th Century Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland: Corot to Picasso, Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, 5 September-17 September 1996; Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, 10 October-22 October 1996; Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, Yamanashi, 26 October-2 December 1996; Daimaru Museum, Umeda,Osaka, 22 January-9 February 1997; Aomori Municpal Gallery of Art, Aomori, 2 April-20 April 1997
Exhibition of Acquisitions 1981-1982, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 30 September 1982 - 2 January 1983
Kees van Dongen, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, 1990
French 19th and 20th Century Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland: Corot to Picasso, Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, 5 September-17 September 1996; Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, 10 October-22 October 1996; Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, Yamanashi, 26 October-2 December 1996; Daimaru Museum, Umeda,Osaka, 22 January-9 February 1997; Aomori Municpal Gallery of Art, Aomori, 2 April-20 April 1997
Label TextVan Dongen was a Fauve painter. In 1905, a critic coined the term ‘Fauves’, meaning ‘Wild Beasts’, to disparage the boldly coloured and seemingly simplistic style of Henri Matisse, André Derain, and artists in their circle. Van Dongen often painted the women who performed at and frequented the cafés of Montmartre and other bohemian areas of Paris. Stella, depicted here, is most likely a demimondaine. Her expression is coquettish yet confident. The artist has outlined her features and accessories using broad brushstrokes and patches of pure colour.