“Reveil, Boulevard Clichy”
“Reveil, Boulevard Clichy” is a gorgeous watercolor on paper painting by the Swedish artist, Anders Zorn, from 1892. Zorn created this painting of his wife at his studio on Boulevard de Clichy, (Boulevard City), a famous street in Paris, France. His studio was in the Montmartre region of Paris near the popular dancehall, the Moulin Rouge.
Zorn is often referred to as the “Swedish Impressionist”. His work, as evident in this painting, exhibits influence from the Impressionist art movement. He has been praised for his ability to capture the personality of his sitter and his wonderful competence at painting both light and water. In true impressionism style, his brushwork was loose and his edges soft. Interestingly, even with broad brush strokes, his work appears natural and realistic.
In this painting, Zorn depicts his wife, Emma Lamm. Her dark hair is softly pulled up, juxtaposed against the light color of her skin and clothing. She is seated in a dress, bending down to adjust a white piece of fabric. The overall color palette is soft, contrasted only by a splash of blue color at the bottom of the painting.
In Zorn’s early portraits, he predominately painted with watercolors. After the late 1880s, he switched to oil paints. This is a rare watercolor portrait made during the later period in his life. He purposely restrained his color palette, which became a signature of his style. He mostly worked in whites, blacks, yellow ochre, and vermilion.
“Reveil, Boulevard Clichy” is currently in a private collection, selling recently for 13,100,000 SEK, roughly 1.3 million dollars.
For more on Anders Zorn, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
