Description
In this captivating double portrait, the fashionable Maistre sisters appear in complementary flowing muslin gowns and delicate gold jewelry. Ninette, in black, wraps her arm delicately yet protectively around her sister Suzette’s waist as both look out toward the viewer. French painter Antoine-Jean Gros created the visual sensation of a gentle breeze by animating the sitters’ gauze-like draperies and chestnut curls. Dense foliage, at times blending in with the curls, frames the pair and opens onto a gleaming landscape background.
Provenance
David Maistre, father of the sitters, Genoa, until 1810 [this and the following provenance based on information provided by François Delestre in a letter of November 21, 1989, to Douglas Druick, in curatorial files]; at his death to Mlle Aubry, cousin of the sitters, Paris, 1810–17. M. Legoux (died 1847); Dijon; at his death to Emil Vincens (died 1850), husband of Rosine, another of the Maistre sisters; at Vincens’s death to Pauline Frat (died 1863), the only surviving sister of the Maistre family; at her death to the Legoux family, Paris. Portalès family, Paris. François Delestre, Paris; sold to Art Institute, 1990.
Accession Number
76212
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
43.2 × 31.2 cm (17 × 12 1/4 in.); Framed: 57.2 × 44.5 cm (22 1/2 × 17 1/2 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Credit Line
Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection
