Provenance
Julie Lemmen, Brussels (acquired directly from the artist)
Thence by descent to the artist’s daughter, Lise Lemmen-Thévenin, Toulon
Galerie André Maurice, Paris, by 1959 (probably from the above)
Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, May 1959 (acquired from the above)
Private Collection, Florida, 1960 (acquired from the above)
Exhibited
Brussels, Les XX, Huitième exposition annuelle, Georges Lemmen, 1891, no. 2 (as Jeune femme faisant du crochet)Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, Exposition G. Lemmen, 1913, no. 6 (as La Couture)
Paris, Galerie André Maurice, Exposition rétrospective de Georges Lemmen (1865-1916), Du pointillisme à l’intimisme, 1959, no. 21, illustrated on the cover (as Tante Julie)
Literature
Roger Cardon, Georges Lemmen, Antwerp, 1990, p. 87, illustrated
This work will be included in the forthcoming Georges Lemmen Catalogue Raisonné being prepared by Olivier Bertrand.
Catalogue note
Georges Lemmen adopted the Neo-Impressionist style after seeing George Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte at the 1887 exhibition of Les XX held at the Musée de l’Art Modern in Brussels. Co-founded by the art and music critic Octave Maus, Les XX introduced the latest trends in paintings and the decorative arts to Belgian audiences. The local artists (Vingtistes) such as Van Rysselberghe, Toorop, Khnopff and Ensor and those from abroad (Invités) Monet, Whistler, Gauguin, Pissarro, Seurat and Van Gogh, worked in a variety of styles, including Impressionism, Symbolism, Realism and Pointillism. Elected a member in 1888, Lemmen showed annually with Les XX from 1889-1893 and its successor La Libre Esthétique.
In our painting, tiny dabs of pink, orange and green turn into densely packed dots to create the perfect harmony of a Pointillist palette. The overall impression evoked is an atmosphere of solitude and calm, almost duplicating the attributes of what must have been required to paint as a Pointillist. Lemmen stands out from other Pointillist painters as he was one of the few artists who explored this technique for portraiture. Lemmen’s sitter is his older sister, Julie, whose humble task, rapt concentration and near religious essence recall Dutch 17th century paintings of Lacemakers by Nicolas Maes and Johannes Vermeer.
Between 1890-95, Lemmen used the fully developed Pointillist style to paint six portraits and several conté crayon drawings. A second portrait of Julie isin The Art Institute of Chicago.