4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2010.

Une Japonaise (The Language of the Fan)

Artist Jules-Joseph Lefebvre (French, 1836 - 1912)

Date1882

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions51 1/2 x 35 1/2 in. (130.8 x 90.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 69 3/8 x 53 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. (176.2 x 135.3 x 15.9 cm)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2058

Terms

Woman
Fan
Red
Black
White
Green
Yellow

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. It is a three-quarter length standing portrait of a woman in front of a wooden door and green painted balustrade. In the distance there seems to be a body of water and mountains. A pale pink four petaled flower grows through the balustrade in the left foreground. She wears a red robe decorated with flowers. She has a plum colored sash tied around her hips and waist. Her hair and eyes are dark brown to black. Her hair is pulled tight on her head, with a flurry of curls at the edges, decorated with flowers and ornamental combs. She has smooth skin and an oval face. She holds on open red fan in her right hand, the edge of which is lodged between her teeth. Her left is resting on her hip, with a small gold ring on her pinky finger.

Label TextJules-Joseph Lefebvre French, 1836–1911 Une Japonaise (The Language of the Fan), 1882 Oil on canvas Holding a red fan that matches her brilliant kimono and wearing blossoms in her hair, this coy European beauty is playing dress-up in traditional Japanese garb. France was swept up in Le Japonisme—the craze for all things Japanese—in the mid-1800s, after the American naval officer Matthew Perry reestablished trade relations between Japan and the West in 1854. Inspired by the trend, academic artists like Jules-Joseph Lefebve created seductive images like this one of playful and exotic women. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2058