TEFAF - Fine Art

Few subjects could be more characteristic of Bazille than a young woman enjoying a late summer afternoon in the Languedoc. Quietly absorbed in her own thoughts as she sits on a bench, an open book on one side, a red shawl and basket to her left, the painting balances realism with a freer more fluid treatment associated with early impressionism. In doing so it highlights Bazille’s standing within this group of French avant garde artists exploring the effects of light, colour and paint handling.

In this painting, Bazille’s contribution to late nineteenth-century art can be seen in the way these concerns come together. Identity is presented as introspective, capturing a private moment, while leisure is given weight and family life treated as a serious subject. Light, at the same time, plays a central role in holding the composition together.

In its subject, composition and atmosphere, the painting invites comparison above all with two of Bazille’s most celebrated canvases, The Family Gathering (1867) and View of the Village (1868). Like The Family Gathering, the present work portrays members of Bazille’s own circle in an outdoor setting. The careful placement of the seated figure within a structured yet open landscape recalls the compositional clarity of that major canvas. At the same time, the handling of colour and light anticipates the atmospheric sensitivity of View of the Village. In both works, the landscape is not a mere backdrop but an integral part of the portrayal.

The setting situates the work firmly within the Protestant milieu of Montpellier to which Bazille belonged. The interrelated Bazille, Westphal and Leenhardt families formed a close social and cultural network whose gatherings often took place on the estates surrounding the city, notably at Méric and at the neighbouring Villa Louise. Originally the work was thought to portray Florence Doxat (1843–1929), but archival research suggests that the model may in fact be Louise Westphal (1852–1933), depicted in her youth. Louise Westphal was the sister of Alexandre Westphal (1861–1951), who married Idelette Leenhardt, the daughter of Florence Doxat, thus linking the two women through the marriage of their families. She resided at the Villa Louise, near the celebrated Bazille family property at Méric, and the painting remained in her family by descent.

Clear spatial organisation is central to the work, and Bazille blends a straightforward realism with a slightly looser, more modern handling of paint. The background landscape is treated with a lighter touch, with softened detail that hints at early Impressionist interest in atmosphere. The path, warmed by sunlight, catches the eye as it recedes, its surface suggested through tone and colour so it almost seems to shimmer.

That same fluency carries into the still-life details framing the figure. The bench anchors the composition, painted with quick, confident brushwork that keeps it solid without feeling heavy. To the right, the hat sits lightly on the wood, its shape defined as much by the fall of light as by outline. To the left, the red shawl draped beside the basket introduces a strong note of colour, adding warmth and immediacy while also emphasising the everyday, lived-in quality of the scene.

Bazille produced around sixty major paintings, alongside a modest number of drawings and preparatory studies. This work dates from the same period as his major paintings The Family Gathering and View of the Village, and shows the same growing assurance in composition and treatment of light. Given this it inevitably raises the question of how his work might have developed had his career not been cut short by his death in the Franco-Prussian War.