A painting with an intriguing bit of storytelling has surfaced in Sotheby’s auction preview, currently on view in New York.
The scene by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (1852-1929) shows Dagnan’s friend, the painter Gustave Courtois slumped on a colorful studio sofa, still holding his brushes and palette as if he’s taking a break from painting.
At the other end of the sofa, a woman in mourning veil sits aloof and dignified. She might be a model keeping her distance, or a patron commissioning a portrait of her deceased husband. Why isn’t she making conversation with the artist? Is she unhappy with the likeness in the portrait he’s painting?
And why is the artist ever so slightly grinning? Dagnan teases but doesn’t give the story away. The obvious thing would have been to show the easel and the portrait. But by concealing, by showing enough and not too much, he invites the human interest of the viewer.
The auction preview continues from 10:00 to 5:00 at Sotheby’s on 72nd and York.