Shop art print and framed art Jeanne Kéfer by Fernand Khnopff

The portrait of Jeanne Kéfer is a painting by Fernand Khnopff, painted in 1885. It has been on display at the Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles since 1997. The sitter is five-year-old Jeanne Kéfer, daughter of the pianist and conductor Gustave Kéfer, a friend of the artist. The painting was due to be shown at the Salon du Groupe des XX in Brussels in 1885, but Khnopff was unable to finish it, so the first exhibition took place at the following Salon, in 1886. The painting received positive reviews, noting the artist's great skill. The painting was subsequently exhibited in London (1892), Florence (1896-1897) and Munich (1898). Kéfer specialists suggest that the painter's style was influenced by the Englishman Whistler, who had worked for a time in Brussels and exhibited in 1884. The painting first belonged to Gustave Kéfer, then to Hugo Engle in Paris. In 1957, the painting was in Sweden, at the Rapps gallery in Stockholm (Rapps Konsthandel). In 1987, the painting was in a private collection in Sweden, and in 1997 it was sold to the Getty Museum at Christie's auction in London. Jeanne Kéfer is shown standing on a porch, wearing a bonnet and leaning against a closed glass door. She is looking straight at the viewer. Her thumb is gripping the edge of her coat. The portrait symbolises the child's vulnerability and uncertainty in the face of the outside world. The message is emphasised by the composition itself: Jeanne's small size in relation to the door frame. X-raying the [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the symbolism style.

 

« Jeanne Kéfer » is kept at J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA.

 

Find the full description of Jeanne Kéfer by Fernand Khnopff on Wikipedia.