Sarah Henrietta Purser
, Irish, 1848-1943
Title
Le Petit DéjeunerDate1881
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
35 x 27 cm
Credit LineBequeathed, Mr R. I. Best, 1959
Object numberNGI.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.