Lot 1196 | Young Venetian with Purple Headscarf

BLAAS, EUGEN VON
1843 Albano Laziale - 1931 Venice


Title: Young Venetian with Purple Headscarf.
Technique: Oil on wood.
Measurement: 32,5 x 24,5cm.
Notation: Signed upper right: Eug.v. Blaas.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.
Provenance:
Private collection, Europe.

Besides the mostly large-format genre depictions of Eugen von Blaas, his smaller bust images of female models were in great demand by an international audience. These are not portraits in the true sense of the word, but rather the reproduction of a distinctive Italian type of woman in different characterizations. This speciality of de Blaas' earned him the nickname "painter of the Venetian beauties". In the series of these works belongs the here offered work "Girl with Headscarf". Eugen de Blaas shows here a completely different side of his painting skills. The concentration is entirely directed towards the young woman's facial expressions, full of character; headscarf and hair are fleeting, almost impressionistically painted, the brushstroke may be shown in this light technique, the tip of the dress is built pastos dotted. The lighting in this small image is particularly refined: The strong light coming from above lies glistening on the headscarf, the white lace of the blouse and the décolleté. Against the deep dark background, a strong contrast is created in which the face, slightly shaded by the curly red hair, forms the balancing centre. The view from the almond-shaped eyes, the slightly smiling face and the slanting head, completely surrounded by the light blue headscarf, create a challenging impression that the viewer can hardly escape. In contrast to the image "Two Venetian Women", in which the glances of the two beauties are concentrated on the new preciousness and the viewer remains an outside observer of the scene, the eye contact between the red-haired girl with the headscarf and her counterpart is, as it were, the subject of the image itself.