Description
A woman in a soft blue-grey dress sits with one hand resting on a chair back, her curled hair pinned up beneath a dark bow. At her shoulder, a corsage of red poppy-like flowers and blue ribbon breaks the cool grey of her dress, set against a warm, hazy yellow background worked in loose pastel strokes.
Painted in 1885, this pastel portrait shows the journalist known by the pen name Séverine, her direct gaze meeting the viewer. The print keeps the pastel’s characteristic soft, chalky texture, especially in that yellow ground, rather than smoothing it toward the look of an oil painting.



