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17 - Louis Welden HAWKINS (Esslingen 1849 - Paris 1910) Portrait …
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Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
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Description
Louis Welden HAWKINS (Esslingen 1849 - Paris 1910) Portrait of Berthe Bruyère Oil on canvas 62 x 51 cm overall Signed lower centre Louis Welden Hawkins We would like to thank Cécile Alves Convert for confirming the authenticity of this work. A certificate of authenticity will be given to the buyer. This work by Louis Welden Hawkins was exhibited at the Salon de la Société nationale des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 1899 under number 757, with the title Portrait de Mme Bruyère. Three other works by Hawkins were exhibited, including Le Foyer, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes. The frame bears two inscriptions in decorative banderoles at the top and bottom: "BERTHE-BRUYERE" and the signature "LOVIS WELDEN HAWKINS". The model is most probably the wife of the doctor and art collector Adolphe Paul Bruyère (1868-1911), whom Berthe married in 1897 and with whom she lived in Paris; she was thirty-three in 1899. A renowned doctor, Adolphe Paul Bruyère practised at the Péan Hospital before becoming, in 1906, assistant physician to the National Palaces and the Presidency of the Republic, as well as a specialist at the Rothschild Hospital. He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1910, in the presence of Louise Abbéma. Little is known about his wife, apart from the fact that an anagram signed "Berthe Bruyère" was published in the magazine L'Éclipse in 1900. The work reflects Hawkins' interest in photography through its cameo and meticulous technique of small, close brushstrokes reminiscent of Italian tempera. Its vegetal ornamentation with circled contours is fully in keeping with the Art Nouveau aesthetic and recalls the masks and fans made by the artist at the same time. It also bears witness to Symbolist research into frames at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. While the thin gilded strip on the inside still retains the idea of a threshold separating the image from reality, the wide border painted with plant motifs and inscriptions extends the composition outwards, creating a more fluid relationship between the painting, its surroundings and the viewer. Hawkins participated fully in this evolution of the symbolist frame, conceived as a decorative and spatial extension of the work. Exhibition: Salon de la Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1899, N° 757
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About the sale Modern Art
Auction location
Auction time 06/30/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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