Kees van Dongen

KEES VAN DONGEN (Rotterdam, 1877 - Monaco, 1968)
"Brigitte Bardot, Musée Galliera". 1964
Silkscreen
Publisher: Mourlot, Paris.
In good condition.
Measurements: 77 x 52 cm.

Work realized on the occasion of the exhibition Les peintres témoins de leur temps, held at the Musée Galliera (Paris) between January 15 and March 8, 1964, under the high patronage of General de Gaulle.

The image represents Brigitte Bardot, absolute icon of popular culture and the feminine ideal of the sixties, reinterpreted by Van Dongen through a synthetic and chromatically bold language. The artist emphasizes the facial features -especially the almond-shaped eyes and the frontal gaze- through flat colors and intense hallmarks, characteristic of his late style.

Kees van Dongen, a key figure of Fauvism, developed throughout his career an unmistakable feminine iconography, linked to glamour, modernity and Parisian worldly life. His interest in contemporary celebrity and his mastery in the stylization of the portrait converge in this silkscreen.

The graphic editions produced by the Mourlot workshop, one of the most prestigious of the twentieth century, enjoy special recognition in the modern art market and in the collection of posters and post-war graphic works.