Portrait de la Comtesse Anna de Noailles

ca. 1908

Not on view

Born in Rome to American parents, Romaine Brooks worked primarily in Paris, where she was a leading member of the city’s artistic counterculture. By 1905, she established herself as a painter of women, often challenging conventional ideas around gender roles and female sexuality. In this this small but intimate portrait, Brooks depicted the French writer and poet Comtesse Anna de Noailles (1876–1933). The muted palette and silvery blue backdrop is characteristic of the artist’s early style and reveals the lasting influence of American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler. Brooks is believed to have cut this work from a larger canvas, indicating that she may have originally intended to paint a half-length or full-length portrait of the sitter. Comtesse Anna de Noailles—who sat for several artists during her lifetime, including a nearly contemporaneous portrait in marble by French sculptor Auguste Rodin (see 11.173.6)—gazes directly at the viewer and is depicted with her characteristically short dark hair, thick eyebrows, and red lipstick.

Artwork Details

Overview

Title: Portrait de la Comtesse Anna de Noailles
Artist: Romaine Brooks (Rome, Italy 1874–1970 Nice, France)
Date: ca. 1908
Culture: American
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 13 3/4 × 10 5/8 in. (34.9 × 27 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2020
Object Number: 2021.14.32
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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