Portrait of a Young Woman

The young lady of this painting epitomises delicateness and youthful femininity. Her rounded face and fair skin is not gaunt or puckered with age, but instead full and abundant with adolescence. The perspective of focusing on the young lady’s back, rather than her face, feels intimate, as does the modest gesture of pulling the shawl further up her shoulder to conceal her bare skin. 

Her hair, elaborately pinned in a fashionable up-do, is rendered in exquisite detail, with each individual strand lovingly curled and skilfully reflecting light. The curls at the nape of her neck are almost reminiscent of the curls of childhood hair, further adding to the visual language of youth. Lebrun’s rendering of skin, as hazy and occasionally punctuated by a reddish blush, is masterful. The interesting perspective and twisted neck affirms his skills as a portraitist with an eye for unusual and interesting compositions. This painting is not a mere portrait of a wealthy lady, but is an imagined representation of youthful femininity and vulnerability.

Louis Joseph Lebrun

Louis Joseph Lebrun was born in Ghent in 1844, the son of a merchant clark. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, and won the Belgian Prix de Rome in 1867 for his painting Socrates’ Address. This allowed him to travel to Italy, where he painted scenes of Italian life to exhibit upon his return to Belgium. Lebrun settled in Brussels and exhibited in the Brussels Salon (and in 1875, won a gold medal) and the General Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1881, 1887 and 1893. Louis Joseph Lebrun passed away in 1900, and is remembered as a painter of history scenes, landscapes, genre scenes, and portraiture.