Saint Jean Girard (19th Century) – Young Oriental Woman With A Saffron Shawl.

Oil on canvas signed lower left Period frame in wood and gilded stucco decorated with foliage and flowers. This orientalist portrait, signed St Jean Girard, represents a young Mediterranean woman in bust and profile. The delicately balanced composition seduces with its classical refinement and its atmosphere bathed in softness. The feminine figure, with regular features and pearly complexion, is covered with a veil with saffron and orange highlights, evoking the fabrics of the Mediterranean countries or North Africa. The long black hair falling freely on the shoulders contrasts with the light that bathes the face, treated with great finesse in the transitions of tones and volumes. The half-open bodice reveals the upper chest, in a sensual but contained register, typical of the intimate orientalism in vogue during the Second Empire. This portrait, imbued with Romanticism, is fully in line with the French pictorial tradition of the 19th century, at the crossroads of the academic school and the taste for idealized exoticism. It evokes the work of painters such as Charles Landelle or Henriette Browne, who knew how to combine naturalism, elegance and fascination for the Orient. The whole is presented in a beautiful antique frame in carved and gilded wood and stucco, decorated with foliage, scrolls and small flowers, which superbly highlights the composition. Saint-Jean Girard is a French painter active in the second half of the 19th century, born in 1849 and died in 1910. He specialized in female portraits, notably in the idealized representation of elegant young women, often seen in profile or bust, in a style between late Romanticism and soft Orientalism. His works are often signed “St. Jean Girard” and dated, and demonstrate a fine, very polished technique, close to the academic school. He favors feminine subjects with discreet charm, dressed in light fabrics, with diffused light, and with dreamy or melancholic expressions. These works show a constant in the representation: extreme care of the face, very worked complexions, and a soft light - often with a neutral or misty background - enhancing the central figure. Condition: good general condition; old varnish slightly yellowed, fine cracks from use, some losses and wear to the frame. Dimensions: In frame: 92 x 81 cm On view: 60 x 48.5 cm