Attributed to Fernand Toussaint

Attributed to FERNAND TOUSSAINT (Brussels, 1873-Ixelles, Belgium, 1956).
"Masquerade".
Oil on canvas.
Unsigned.
Measurements: 63 x 45 cm; 80 x 64 cm (frame).

The European painting of the late nineteenth century knows the rise of symbolism and other avant-garde movements that often denote a special fascination with disguise and concealment. Fernand Toussaint portrayed the elegant and lavish life of the bourgeoisie at the end of the century. So it is in this work, where the artist depicts a beautiful lady wearing an elegant attire and covering her face with a carnival mask. The painting is resolved in a figurative language of post-impressionist technique, with loose and agile brushstrokes.
Painter and illustrator, Fernand Toussaint trained with Jean-François Portaels at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts and three years later left for Paris to continue his studies there. He exhibited at the Paris Salon. His works include paintings, watercolors and posters. One of the Belgian art critics of the time, Camille Lemonnier, said of Toussaint that he was "one of the painters who broadened the horizon of the quiet and intimate landscape".