Thérèse Hummel

THÉRÈSE HUMMEL (1896-1967)
"Portrait of a lady", 1938.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 73 x 50 cm; 87 x 63 cm (frame).

It is possible to relate this feminine portrait of Thérèse Hummel with the sensibility of the figurative avant-garde of between the wars, especially for its formal simplification, the expressive use of the color and the renunciation to an academic description of the volume. The flat treatment of the surfaces, the importance given to the decorative arabesque and the chromatic freedom evoke the pictorial climate derived from Fauvism and certain Matissian approaches, although filtered by a more naive and personal language.

The face, with a serene and slightly enigmatic expression, contrasts with the dynamism of the dress and the compositional freedom of the background, where curtains, lattices and floral motifs are resolved in a synthetic way. The figure is constructed with soft contours, deliberately simplified proportions and a serene, almost candid expression. This formal naivety does not detract from the sophistication of the image, but rather reinforces its modern charm, situated between the mundane portrait, the interior scene and the decorative painting. The result is a work of strong visual presence, representative of a modern, friendly and free figuration, far from academic naturalism.

Thérèse Hummel was a painter active in Paris during the middle decades of the 20th century. Her known production includes portraits, urban scenes, seascapes, nudes, views of Paris and genre compositions. Linked to the Parisian artistic environment, her work is associated with the Montparnasse of the interwar period and the bohemian atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s. His production has become known mainly through the French market, where his works have maintained a prominent presence in auctions and private collections.