The Terrace of the Villa Brancas

Discussion

FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

Here, two women are seated on a sunny terrace in the lush landscape at Sèvres. One figure, presumably Bracquemond's wife, Marie, who was also an artist, draws the other, who is posed with an umbrella. The old porcelain manufactory and part of Bellevue is visible among the trees. The artist is alert and active, a pencil poised in her right hand, while the subject of her portrait demurely casts her gaze downward. Here, the 19th-century woman is depicted both in the midst of creating a work of art, and as the passive subject of one.

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