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Dimensions: 17 3/4 by 21 in.
45 by 53.3cm
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Provenance: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
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Notes: This small portrait shows Marie Louise, the youngest daughter of painter Emile Munier, as he painted her in approximately 1876 when she was at most two or three years old. She is represented in a capricious mood and a posture to which she must have been accustomed as Munier painter her with this pose in several works. Munier often used drawings and sketches as studies for his finished canvases, often using his two children, Henri, the eldest, son of Henriette Lucas, and Marie-Louise, daughter of Sargine Augrand, as models. This very lively portrait presents a moment of joyful and open intimacy.
Emile Munier chose not to devote himself to paintings with historical or mythological subject matter, most likely because these elevated themes were becoming more and more unpopular to fine arts lovers. However, Munier's deliberate preference for a less prestigious style appears to be lead by true, deep personal interest rather than by business interests. He didn't paint any works with a political or philosophical message, except for rare exceptions. Throughout his oeuvre, Munier's pictures display the artist's deep affection for simple family scenes and rustic genre, for which he felt a natural nostalgia.
Another version of this painting with the same dimensions and dated 1880 was sold by Sotheby's New York on April 24th, 2003. Only a few minor differences make it possible to distinguish the two paintings.
