Henri De Gaudemaris – Young Woman At The Baths With Ibis – Oil On Panel – Late 19th Century

Henri de Gaudemaris (1853-1908)
Young Woman with Ibises
Oil on panel
46 x 37.5 cm
Early 20th-century frame with rich decoration of scrolls and foliage

This delicate work illustrates Henri de Gaudemaris's talent for allegorical compositions imbued with poetry and sensuality. The artist depicts a young woman of oriental type, adorned with a red headband decorated with a pearl and gold earrings, seated gracefully on a low stone wall at the edge of a basin.

The figure, rendered with great softness in its pearly flesh tones, delicately holds a small plate in her right hand. At his feet, two white ibises with long, curved beaks complete this enigmatic scene, lending the whole a mythological and Orientalist dimension.

The atmospheric treatment of the background, with its subtle grays and nuanced browns, recalls the influence of Corot, while the overall composition evokes the academic subjects favored by painters of the second half of the 19th century. The brushwork is both firm in its construction and delicate in its transitions of light, testifying to the artist's technical mastery. The presence of the ibises, sacred birds in ancient Egypt, suggests an Orientalist or mythological evocation, a recurring theme in the academic painting of this period.

Provenance: Family collection of the artist.
Good overall condition.
Unsigned.

The artist
Henri de Gaudemaris (1853-1908) began a brilliant but brief military career before devoting himself to painting. He trained in Lyon under Michel Dumas, a former student of Ingres and director of the Lyon School of Fine Arts.

His style blends delicate religious symbolism with an academic rigor inherited from 15th-century painting, often characterized by calm and luminous compositions. Considered one of the refined representatives of the mystical and spiritual revival in late 19th-century Lyon painting, he is particularly known for his numerous church decorations in the Lyon region.

This secular work reveals a lesser-known facet of his output, demonstrating his ability to treat allegorical and Orientalist subjects with the same delicacy and technical mastery as his religious compositions.

The work is on display at the gallery (07240).
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