JULIUS L. STEWART (American, 1855-1919). Portrait of a Woman Reading. Watercolor on paper (sight). 6-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches ...

Description

JULIUS L. STEWART (American, 1855-1919)
Portrait of a Woman Reading
Watercolor on paper (sight)
6-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches (16.5 x 11.4 cm)
Initialed lower left: JLS

THE JEAN AND GRAHAM DEVOE WILLIFORD CHARITABLE TRUST

NOTE:
Framer's label verso: Carpentier B. SGDC, Paris.

Graham Williford was particularly fond of Belle Epoque portraiture, and one of his favorite artists working in this vein was Julius Leblanc Stewart, a wealthy American expatriate and contemporary of John Singer Sargent, who spent his career in Paris. His father, the sugar millionaire William Hood Stewart, moved the family from Philadelphia to Paris in 1865, and became a distinguished art collector and an early patron of Fortuny and the Barbizon artists. Julius studied under Eduardo Zamacois as a teenager, under Gerome at the École des Beaux Arts, and later was a pupil of Raymondo de Madrazo. Stewart's family wealth enabled him to live a lush expatriate life and paint what he pleased, often large-scale group portraits of society women in their finery. He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon from 1878 into the early 20th century, and helped organize the Americans in Paris section of the 1894 Salon. This deftly painted watercolor of a woman reading is a testament to Stewart's skill in capturing light, texture, personality and mood. The way Stewart conveyed the effect of sunlight delicately touching the ruffled edges of the woman's white collar and glinting off the braid threaded through her coiffure is an artful match to her expression of thoughtful reverie.


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