Narcissus

late 19th - early 20th century

French, 1840-1926

Victoria Dubourg was trained as a portrait painter and like many young Parisian artists she spent time copying paintings at the Louvre. Once a professional artist, she specialized in floral still lifes. This exquisite study of crisp paperwhites against a plain brown background shows the formal restraint and compositional precision that may have been influenced by popular Japanese woodblock prints, as well as the new medium of photography.

Oil on canvas

11 x 12 3/8 in. (28 x 31.5 cm)

Gift of the Seattle Garden Club

59.123

Provenance: [Huinck and Scherjon Galleries, Amsterdam]; purchased by H.E. Ten Cate, Almelo, Holland; [Leonard Koetser, Old Masters Gallery]; purchased by Seattle Art Museum (funds from Seattle Garden Club), June 23, 1959

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Published References"Art Digest," Vol. X, no. 2, p. 15, October 15, 1935

Hannema, Dr. D., O.B.E. "Catalogue of the H.E. Ten Cate Collection." Rotterdam: AD. Donker, 1955, vol. 1 (text), no. 55, p. 47, not illus.

"Preview, KLSN Program & Fine Arts Guide." March 1961, p. 13

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