20th-century French school

20th-century French school.
“Couple.” 1917.
Oil on paper.
Signed (illegible) and dated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 41 x 37 cm; 55 x 52 cm (with frame).

The composition depicts an elegantly dressed couple, posed frontally against a neutral background. The man, wearing a dark suit and a light-colored tie, adopts a solemn pose, while the woman, turned slightly, introduces greater dynamism through the volume of her dress and the richness of its greens and yellows. The short, fragmented brushstrokes—particularly visible on the faces and fabrics—construct the figures through hallmarks of light and color rather than precise line work.

The portrait maintains a representational and bourgeois tone, but the execution—with visible texture and softened contours—brings a modern sensibility reminiscent of the figurative renewal of the early decades of the 20th century.