Lucien-victor Guirand De Scevola (1871-1950) Portrait Of A Young Woman, 1928 Pastel, Oval

Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scevola (1871-1950)
Portrait of a young woman
Pastel on paper
38 x 28 cm (oval)
Framed under glass in a vintage framing : 45 x 35 cm
A label on the back "1928 Portrait de femme Etude au pastel de Guirand de Scévola" (see photographs please)

This pastel study is of course not signed, as the label on the back of the frame gives its attribution to Guirand de Scévola and, equally interestingly, the date 1928, but in fact the artist's style and execution are immediately recognisable without the need for a signature.
Even more interestingly, we recognize the model for this portrait as Jeanne Marguerite Fournials. A painter herself (Gold Medal winner at the 1937 International Exhibition), she was a student of Guirand de Scévola. He painted her several times, including in a pastel now held in the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art.

Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola ( 1871 – 1950) was a French painter. 
He was student of Fernand Cormon and Pierre Dupuis at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.
De Scévola art is remarkable for his silky, velvety and smooth style.
The very first part of his career was marked by symbolism, but he later developped his own language, his Art Deco like bunches of flowers are the best known. He was also a great portraitist for the socialites and aristocrats of the period.
He is also known for his pioneering leadership of the Camoufleurs (the French Camouflage Department) in World War I.