The present work shows Wilfrid de Glehn at his most confident as a portraitist and British Impressionist: capturing a moment in time, through confident brushstrokes - at times long, generous and contemplative, at others quick, impulsive and loaded with vigour.

The unidentified sitter, relaxed and elegant, holds the viewer with a direct, unwavering gaze. Her trustful expression, kindly hazel eyes and the informality of her pose - half-turned from the dressing-table -, suggest that she was comfortable in the artist’s company; indeed, she has a bohemian element, and one can easily imagine her frequenting the Chelsea Arts Club and moving in de Glehn's artistic circle.

The wedding-ring finger of her left hand is obscured but her poise, the dressing-room setting and the title, The Beloved, may be further intimations of a shared social milieu. The title is enhanced, playfully perhaps, by the portrait being ‘rose-tinted’; the dominant palette of soft, dusky pinks and warm creams is balanced compositionally by the single red roses to her left and right, while the sitter’s jacket accentuates the colour of her lips. A porcelain figurine, possibly of Cupid, is glimpsed behind her right shoulder. Over her right arm appears to be draped a shawl which may have belonged to the artist’s close friend John Singer Sargent, whose studio de Glehn helped clear after his death in 1925.

The mirror, which brings light, depth and additional blues to this composition, was a device used elsewhere by de Glehn and many others, but in contrast to the activity and detail contained in such reflections as that, for instance, of the barmaid in Manet’s ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’, the reflection here offers no obvious clues to the sitter’s history. The work may have been painted in de Glehn’s home on Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, whose destruction during an air raid in World War II forced the artist and his wife to move permanently to Wiltshire.

Charming but enigmatic, the portrait evokes the sitter’s self-contained grace, touched possibly with melancholy, and communicates a moment of genuine candour between artist and sitter, intriguing viewers now with questions concerning the backstory which may have prompted the affectionate title.

2017 with David Messum Fine Art, London.

2010 Sotheby’s, London “British Modern Art Evening Sale’

2001 By Descent from the Artist’s Family

The canvas has been lined. There are a few light scuffs, and light scratches in places. Subject to the above, the work is in excellent condition.

Examination under ultra-violet light reveals well-executed touchups to the left elbow.

The painting is in its original period gilt frame. The frame is in honest untouched condition, with a superb patina. There is minor rubbing commensurate with age, but this does nothing to detract from the attractiveness of the frame.

A painter of landscapes, figure subjects and portraits, Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn was one of England’s leading Impressionists, recognised for his direct, painterly style, vibrant colour and ability to capture sparkling, sensual light effects.

In 1891, he began a lifelong friendship with John Singer Sargent, when Edwin Austin Abbey chose him to come to Fairford in Gloucester and assist him with Sargent's mural commission for the Boston Public Library. It was possibly through Sargent that Wilfrid de Glehn met Jane Emmet, who came from a distinguished New York family and was related to Henry James. They married in 1904 and soon joined Sargent in Venice on what would be probably the first of many painting holidays they enjoyed together and with other artists before WWI.

By 1900, de Glehn had already begun to come into his own as a painter. He joined the NEAC, befriended both Tonks and Steer, and exhibited at the Paris Salon, the Royal Academy, the New Gallery and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. His first solo exhibition was held at the Carfax Gallery in 1908. He was elected an ARA in 1923 and made an RA in 1932.

De Glehn attended Brighton College and the Government Art Training School, South Kensington before 1890, when he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts and continued his formal training with Gustave Moreau and Elie Delaunay.

The Wilfrid de Glehn Studio Estate is represented by David Messum Fine Art.