1940s. Portrait Of A Woman Wearing A Veiled Hat, French School, Signed Vanier

Claude Vanier – Portrait of a Young Woman with a Veiled Hat, French School, c. 1940

Claude Vanier, born Simon Abramovitch (Le Havre, 1903 – Paris, 1958)

Oil on canvas.
53 × 36 cm.
Signed “Vanier” lower left.

Claude Vanier, born Simon Abramovitch in Le Havre in 1903, studied at the School of Fine Arts in his native city before settling in Paris, where he attended the academies of Montparnasse. From 1929 onward, he took part in Parisian artistic life, exhibiting at the Salons and in galleries in the capital.

Best known for his landscapes, seascapes and urban views, Vanier also devoted part of his work to figures and portraiture. These paintings reveal the same sensitivity to colour that characterises his landscapes. In this portrait, the wine-red of the dress, the ochre of the hat and the pink and violet tones of the complexion are enlivened by small accents of colour in the brooch.

Rooted initially in Impressionism, his painting gradually evolved towards a more personal language close to Post-Fauvism, in which colour became his principal means of expression.

Claude Vanier died in Paris in 1958.