Pair of paintings depicting a partially nude woman at two different moments in her life. In the first canvas, which can presumably be considered the earlier of the two, a woman is shown in profile, her breast exposed, contemplating the miniature portrait of a man that she holds in her left hand. At this stage, the narrative appears to be rather happy. The second painting, however, depicts the same woman in a very different emotional state. The faint smile has now given way to tears, while her clenched fist encloses what we may assume to be the memory of her husband.
These two paintings strongly evoke the work of Claude-Marie Dubufe (1790–1864), particularly his paintings entitled Les Regrets and Le Souvenir. In many of his works, this painter explores the emotional states associated with human life. We may therefore consider our pair of paintings to be a form of allegory of the emotions.
France, first half of the 19th century.
Dimensions
Height: 65 cm
Width: 82 cm
