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Femme du Monde
Artist:
Kees van Dongen
(Dutch, 1877-1968)
Date: ca. 1929
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Overall: 76 3/4 x 76 3/4 in. (194.9 x 194.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 83 1/4 x 82 3/4 in. (211.5 x 210.2 cm)
Classification: Modern art
Credit Line: Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Copyright: © Kees van Dongen Estate / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Object number: 71.714
Terms
- Woman
- Blue
- White
- Black
- Yellow
- Red
- Paris
On view
DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. A woman, in a black dancing dress, seductively poses on a couch, covered in a fur-lined cape. A painting of a clipper ship is behind the couch, suggesting she is in the artist's studio.
Exhibition History"French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio, March 25 - May 22, 1960.
"Group Exhibition," Acquavella Galleries, New York, Feb. 1-24, 1962. (Exhib. cat. no. 13).
"A Comprehensive Exhibition of Paintings 1900-1925 by van Dongen," Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, Nov. 16 - Dec. 18, 1965. (Exhib. cat. no. 29).
"Van Dongen: A Fauve in the City," Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada, January 22 - April 19, 2009.
"Group Exhibition," Acquavella Galleries, New York, Feb. 1-24, 1962. (Exhib. cat. no. 13).
"A Comprehensive Exhibition of Paintings 1900-1925 by van Dongen," Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, Nov. 16 - Dec. 18, 1965. (Exhib. cat. no. 29).
"Van Dongen: A Fauve in the City," Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada, January 22 - April 19, 2009.
Label textKees van Dongen
Dutch, 1887–1968
Femme du Monde, ca. 1929
Oil on canvas
Kees van Dongen’s art embodies the glitter and glamour of Parisian life during the 1920s. The artist’s love of the high life was rivaled only by his affection for women. “I love anything that shines,” he once said, “precious stones that sparkle, fabrics that shimmer, beautiful women who arouse carnal desire…painting lets me possess it all.”
The identity of this spirited flapper is something of a mystery. First exhibited under the title of Femme du Monde (Woman of the World) in 1929, the sitter was for years identified as one Monna Lils. It is likely, however, that this name is a punning pseudonym that alludes to the Mona Lisa and the actual sitter—the celebrated actress Lili Damita who later married Errol Flynn.
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.714
Dutch, 1887–1968
Femme du Monde, ca. 1929
Oil on canvas
Kees van Dongen’s art embodies the glitter and glamour of Parisian life during the 1920s. The artist’s love of the high life was rivaled only by his affection for women. “I love anything that shines,” he once said, “precious stones that sparkle, fabrics that shimmer, beautiful women who arouse carnal desire…painting lets me possess it all.”
The identity of this spirited flapper is something of a mystery. First exhibited under the title of Femme du Monde (Woman of the World) in 1929, the sitter was for years identified as one Monna Lils. It is likely, however, that this name is a punning pseudonym that alludes to the Mona Lisa and the actual sitter—the celebrated actress Lili Damita who later married Errol Flynn.
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.714
Published References
R. Edouard-Joseph. _Dictionnaire Biographique III_. Paris: Art & édition. 1934: p. 376, ill.
Priscilla C. Colt and Charles H. Elam. _French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio. 1960, #101.
Louis Chaumeil. _Van Dongen: L'Homme et l'Artiste -- La Vie et l'Oeuvre_. Geneva. 1967: p. 312, fig. 66.
Chrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: p. 74.
Peter C. Sutton. _A Guide to Dutch Art in America_. Washington, D.C.: Netherlands-American Amity Trust; Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Erdmans. 1986: p. 207.
Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum. 1991. # 134, p. 177.
Provenance
Gaboriaud, Paris; Robert Lebel, Paris; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971.
Catalogue EntryKees van Dongen
Dutch, 1887-1968
Mlle Monna Lils, ca. 1929
Oil on canvas, 76½" x 77" (194.3 x 195.6 cm)
Signed lower center: _van Dongen._
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 71.714
References: Louis Chaumeil, _Van Dongen: L'homme et l'artiste - La vie et l'oeuvre_, Geneva, 1967, p. 312; Peter C. Sutton, _A Guide to Dutch Art in America_, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986, p. 207.
The Dutchman Kees van Dongen was, perhaps, the most spirited of the Fauve painters (see nos. 132, 128). His heavy, fast-paced life surpassed even the Fauves' exuberant vision of _joie de vivre_. "I have always played," he once jested. "Painting is nothing but a game." His early art was indeed playful and very chic, a sophisticated blend of boisterous Fauve hues and sensual outline.
After some rudimentary artistic training in Rotterdam, Van Dongen settled in Paris in 1897. His paintings sold poorly at first, and he took a number of colorful odd jobs - wrestler, newspaper vendor, longshoreman - to support himself. His artistic career began in earnest in 1904-05, when he exhibited with the art dealer Ambroise Vollard and at the "Fauve" Salon d'Automne. He soon became the toast of Montmartre, hosting a series of raucous parties for the artistic and social elite of Paris.
After World War I, Van Dongen renounced the hot colors of his earlier works for a chillier palette of steely blues and greens. He maintained his social prominence, and with his many portraits of the rich and famous of Paris - actors, politicians, international society beauties and celebrated women of the evening - he captured all the glitter and glamour of the _Folle Epoque_, the French Roaring '20s.
Among the most arresting of these portraits is the seductive _Mlle Monna Lils_, which Van Dongen exhibited in Paris at the 1929 salon of the Société National des Beaux-Arts. In the painting a worldly demimondaine - a heavily rouged "china doll" dressed for dancing - reclines on a couch with predatory abandon, her body set against her fur-lined cape like a costly jewel encased in velvet. "I love everything that shines," Van Dongen once declared, "precious stones that sparkle, fabrics that bristle, beautiful women who inspire carnal desire. And painting gives me the most complete possession of that."
Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum. 1991. # 134, p. 177.
Dutch, 1887-1968
Mlle Monna Lils, ca. 1929
Oil on canvas, 76½" x 77" (194.3 x 195.6 cm)
Signed lower center: _van Dongen._
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 71.714
References: Louis Chaumeil, _Van Dongen: L'homme et l'artiste - La vie et l'oeuvre_, Geneva, 1967, p. 312; Peter C. Sutton, _A Guide to Dutch Art in America_, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986, p. 207.
The Dutchman Kees van Dongen was, perhaps, the most spirited of the Fauve painters (see nos. 132, 128). His heavy, fast-paced life surpassed even the Fauves' exuberant vision of _joie de vivre_. "I have always played," he once jested. "Painting is nothing but a game." His early art was indeed playful and very chic, a sophisticated blend of boisterous Fauve hues and sensual outline.
After some rudimentary artistic training in Rotterdam, Van Dongen settled in Paris in 1897. His paintings sold poorly at first, and he took a number of colorful odd jobs - wrestler, newspaper vendor, longshoreman - to support himself. His artistic career began in earnest in 1904-05, when he exhibited with the art dealer Ambroise Vollard and at the "Fauve" Salon d'Automne. He soon became the toast of Montmartre, hosting a series of raucous parties for the artistic and social elite of Paris.
After World War I, Van Dongen renounced the hot colors of his earlier works for a chillier palette of steely blues and greens. He maintained his social prominence, and with his many portraits of the rich and famous of Paris - actors, politicians, international society beauties and celebrated women of the evening - he captured all the glitter and glamour of the _Folle Epoque_, the French Roaring '20s.
Among the most arresting of these portraits is the seductive _Mlle Monna Lils_, which Van Dongen exhibited in Paris at the 1929 salon of the Société National des Beaux-Arts. In the painting a worldly demimondaine - a heavily rouged "china doll" dressed for dancing - reclines on a couch with predatory abandon, her body set against her fur-lined cape like a costly jewel encased in velvet. "I love everything that shines," Van Dongen once declared, "precious stones that sparkle, fabrics that bristle, beautiful women who inspire carnal desire. And painting gives me the most complete possession of that."
Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum. 1991. # 134, p. 177.