The white veil

Description of the artwork

The pastel presented here was executed by Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer in 1891 in Juan les Pins, while working at Clément Massier's earthenware factory. Hired in 1887, first as a lithographer and then as a ceramist, Lévy-Dhurmer later became director of art works at this factory between 1892 and 1895.
A collector of Hispano-Moorish ceramics, in the 1890s he carried out research into metallic reflections, as seen in our pastel, which features interesting and unusual gold highlights in the background, in the form of iris flowers.

In this early work - still signed Lucien Lévy - he chose, in reference to the Italian masters he admired, to depict this young woman in a perfect medallion profile. He brings a subtle modernity to it, drawing our attention to the young woman's eye and to the crystalline flower from which, like moonbeams, the folds of her white veil emerge, concealing part of her face, hair and bust. The harmony between the model and her environment, punctuated by floral elements, is a harbinger of her future work, which will combine the woman and the nature that surrounds her in often intense, undulating movements.

Devoting his leisure time to painting, Lucien Lévy finally left Juan les Pins at the age of 30 to exhibit in Paris, where he settled. This first solo exhibition at the Georges Petit gallery in 1896 was to be the real starting point of his artistic career, as the Parisian public was so receptive to his talent. From then on, he added part of his mother's surname to his own, signing under the name Lévy-Dhurmer.