European Art and Old Masters

Note We wish to thank Jane Roberts and Muriel Molines for confirming the authenticity of the present Lot, which will be included in the online Catalogue Raisonné of the Artist's work. The present painting was executed in the Artist's studio in Auteuil, rue des Fontis - where the artist and his parents moved in 1873. Blanche had his studio built in 1878 and turned it into a living room, preferring to live there instead of in his parents' mansion. In the background of the present work, once can spot Blanche's impressive Coromandel lacquer screen, which is featured in many other portraits set in the artist's studio such as Vaslav Nijinsky in 'Danse Siamoise' from circa 1911. The portrait likely depicts Katharine Johnstone Bispham McKean (1875-1957), wife to Thomas McKean and mother of Nancy -whose portrait sold at Freeman's on February 14, 2023- and of Thomas, Jr., born in Paris in 1909 around the same time the present portrait was completed.