Buy With Confidence
For over a century, we've placed important art, rare jewels and exceptional objects with more than 14,000 collectors worldwide, and have been recognized by trusted publications including Robb Report, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and more.
On Approval
Examine select works in person before you commit
125% Guarantee
Full credit plus 5% annual appreciation for five years
Trusted Expertise
Over two centuries of combined experience across our specialists
Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress by Hippolyte Petitjean
- This watercolor by Hippolyte Petitjean captures his Pointillist technique at its most refined
- Warm color, softened contours and exposed paper give the figure a sense of luminosity and intimacy
- The artist transforms a quiet outdoor nude into a modern composition of color, light and atmosphere
- A close friend of Seurat, Petitjean helped carry Post-Impressionist color theory into the 20th century
- Get complete item description here
$39,850
Item No.
32-3254
To speak to one of our experts, call 1-888-711-8084
Description
Hippolyte Petitjean
1854–1929 | French
Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress
Artist's estate stamp (lower right)
Watercolor on paper
This luminous watercolor by Hippolyte Petitjean, entitled Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress, places the artist within the modern world of Seurat, Signac, Cézanne and Matisse. A close friend of Georges Seurat, Petitjean began experimenting with Pointillism in 1886 and adopted its radical approach to color into his refined figure studies. In this. . .
1854–1929 | French
Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress
Artist's estate stamp (lower right)
Watercolor on paper
This luminous watercolor by Hippolyte Petitjean, entitled Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress, places the artist within the modern world of Seurat, Signac, Cézanne and Matisse. A close friend of Georges Seurat, Petitjean began experimenting with Pointillism in 1886 and adopted its radical approach to color into his refined figure studies. In this. . .
Read More
Hippolyte Petitjean
1854–1929 | French
Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress
Artist's estate stamp (lower right)
Watercolor on paper
This luminous watercolor by Hippolyte Petitjean, entitled Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress, places the artist within the modern world of Seurat, Signac, Cézanne and Matisse. A close friend of Georges Seurat, Petitjean began experimenting with Pointillism in 1886 and adopted its radical approach to color into his refined figure studies. In this work, he brings the movement’s modern color theories to an intimate study of the female figure, transforming a quiet moment of undress into a richly orchestrated composition of light, color and form.
The young woman stands outdoors before richly varied foliage, her body modeled through warm color and softened contours. Rather than shaping form through conventional light and dark, Petitjean builds the composition through broken marks of pigment, allowing the toned paper to emerge between them.
Central to Pointillism was the idea that separated touches of color could produce greater luminosity and vibrancy than pigments mixed together before application. Petitjean uses that principle with exceptional subtlety: shadows are built from rich color rather than simple darkness, while his varied marks give the composition a remarkable sense of vitality.
Petitjean moved to Paris in 1872 and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under Alexandre Cabanel. Deeply influenced by Puvis de Chavannes, he developed a lifelong interest in poetic figure scenes that evoke an idealized harmony between the human form and nature. That classical sensibility, combined with his Post-Impressionist technique, gives this watercolor its distinctive union of tradition and modernity.
Petitjean exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and took part in important avant-garde exhibitions in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Weimar and Wiesbaden. Alongside Théo van Rysselberghe and Henry van de Velde, he helped extend Divisionist and Post-Impressionist ideas beyond France and into the Belgian avant-garde. Works by Petitjean are held in major public collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
With its beautifully varied pointillist handling, Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress stands among the most attractive and accomplished works on paper of Petitjean’s career.
Circa 1895-1910
Paper: 15“ high x 9 1/4” wide (38.10 x 23.50 cm)
Framed: 24“ high x 18 3/4” wide x 1 1/4“ deep (60.96 x 47.62 x 3.17 cm)
Provenance:
The artist’s studio
Private collection, Paris
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
1854–1929 | French
Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress
Artist's estate stamp (lower right)
Watercolor on paper
This luminous watercolor by Hippolyte Petitjean, entitled Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress, places the artist within the modern world of Seurat, Signac, Cézanne and Matisse. A close friend of Georges Seurat, Petitjean began experimenting with Pointillism in 1886 and adopted its radical approach to color into his refined figure studies. In this work, he brings the movement’s modern color theories to an intimate study of the female figure, transforming a quiet moment of undress into a richly orchestrated composition of light, color and form.
The young woman stands outdoors before richly varied foliage, her body modeled through warm color and softened contours. Rather than shaping form through conventional light and dark, Petitjean builds the composition through broken marks of pigment, allowing the toned paper to emerge between them.
Central to Pointillism was the idea that separated touches of color could produce greater luminosity and vibrancy than pigments mixed together before application. Petitjean uses that principle with exceptional subtlety: shadows are built from rich color rather than simple darkness, while his varied marks give the composition a remarkable sense of vitality.
Petitjean moved to Paris in 1872 and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under Alexandre Cabanel. Deeply influenced by Puvis de Chavannes, he developed a lifelong interest in poetic figure scenes that evoke an idealized harmony between the human form and nature. That classical sensibility, combined with his Post-Impressionist technique, gives this watercolor its distinctive union of tradition and modernity.
Petitjean exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and took part in important avant-garde exhibitions in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Weimar and Wiesbaden. Alongside Théo van Rysselberghe and Henry van de Velde, he helped extend Divisionist and Post-Impressionist ideas beyond France and into the Belgian avant-garde. Works by Petitjean are held in major public collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
With its beautifully varied pointillist handling, Young Woman Taking Off Her Dress stands among the most attractive and accomplished works on paper of Petitjean’s career.
Circa 1895-1910
Paper: 15“ high x 9 1/4” wide (38.10 x 23.50 cm)
Framed: 24“ high x 18 3/4” wide x 1 1/4“ deep (60.96 x 47.62 x 3.17 cm)
Provenance:
The artist’s studio
Private collection, Paris
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Read Less
Specifications
| Period: | 1816-1918 |
| Origin: | France |
| Type: | Paintings |
| Style: | Post-Impressionism |
| Depth: | 1.25 in. (3.18 cm) |
| Width: | 18.75 in. (47.63 cm) |
| Height: | 24.0 in. (60.96 cm) |
| Canvas Width: | 9.250 in. (23.5 cm) |
| Canvas Height: | 15.000 in. (38.1 cm) |
Buy With Confidence
For over a century, we've placed important art, rare jewels and exceptional objects with more than 14,000 collectors worldwide, and have been recognized by trusted publications including Robb Report, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and more.
On Approval
Examine select works in person before you commit
125% Guarantee
Full credit plus 5% annual appreciation for five years
Trusted Expertise
Over two centuries of combined experience across our specialists
