Therese Albert (1933-?) - Ritratto Femminile

Author

Therese Albert (1933-?) French painter. There is limited biographical information available; she was born in 1933 in the Lorraine region, in northeastern France. Her artistic journey developed uniquely, bridging Europe and the United States. Although her roots are deeply embedded in French territory, much of her documented activity took place overseas, where the artist lived and worked between the 20th and 21st centuries, blending her European sensibility with the vast atmospheres of the American landscape.

Primarily recognized as a landscape painter, Albert has dedicated her painting production, mainly executed in oil, to celebrating nature and open spaces. Her canvases frequently depict iconic scenes of the Pacific Northwest, ranging from the majestic views of Mount Hood to winter landscapes of the Blue Mountains, and include more bucolic and rural scenes composed of farms, crops, and flocks. Some of her well-known works, beyond landscapes, also suggest an attention to more domestic and intimate subjects, always treated with a clear and traditional figurative language.

Description

"Female Portrait", oil on canvas, 120*87cm with frame, 113*80cm the canvas alone. 1961, signed and dated on the back.

The painting presents us with a female figure captured in a pose of natural abandonment and domestic intimacy. The subject, seated on a chair, wears a white dress that stands out for its brightness, and sits barefoot with her legs crossed, while her hands rest intertwined in her lap in a gesture of quiet waiting. On the left, a wooden table holds a sheet of paper, perhaps a letter, the only narrative element that interacts with the thoughtful and slightly melancholic gaze of the protagonist, which seems directed towards an inner elsewhere rather than towards the viewer.

From a stylistic perspective, the canvas stands out for its solid compositional structure and for a material and confident brushwork that constructs volumes through decisive contrasts of light and shadow, especially evident in the drapery of the garment and the rendering of the flesh tone. The palette plays on a harmonious agreement of earthy tones, ochre, and dirty whites, which give the scene a warm yet sober atmosphere. Although the overall approach is that of the realism typical of the author, the work seems to incorporate, with a personal reinterpretation and delayed by several decades, the suggestions of European New Objectivity from the 1930s, combined with a gestural freedom of post-impressionist origin that characterized much figurative painting between the 1950s and 1960s.

Within Thérèse Albert's corpus, primarily known for her natural landscapes between France and Oregon, this painting holds a special significance. It is, in fact, one of the very few known portraits by the artist and currently represents the largest work among those cataloged and appeared on the market. A painting of fine style and pleasing aesthetic impact.

Condition Report

Good, almost excellent, the overall condition. It operates intact in every part with vivid chromia and brushstroke that are well legible.

Tracked and insured shipment with adequate packaging.