Marcel Perrot (XIX-XX) - Portrait de femme, 1912

Marcel Perrot (19th-20th centuries)
Portrait of a Woman, 1912

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1912.

Interesting female portrait by Marcel Perrot, a French painter active between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose known output falls within figurative painting and portraiture in the academic tradition of his time.

The work depicts an elderly woman, captured from the bust and slightly turned toward the viewer. The sobriety of the attire and the background concentrates all attention on the face, which constitutes the true psychological and luminous core of the composition.

Perrot builds the features with a visible, relatively free brushstroke. The ochers, earth tones, pinks and warm flesh tones contrast with the deep blacks and browns that dominate the dress and surroundings. Particularly interesting is the treatment of the hair, executed with glazes and grayish, ocher and bluish brushstrokes that allow modeling its volume without resorting to overly rigid drawing.

The face shows a will to convey individual and psychological character. The gaze, serious and restrained, along with the expression of the mouth and the lighting concentrated on the forehead, cheeks and nose, give the subject a notable presence. The execution avoids excessive idealization and preserves the signs typical of the portrait subject’s age.

On the dark dress stands out an oval brooch, a small bright point that deliberately breaks the large black mass of the apparel and contributes to the composition’s chromatic balance.

From a stylistic point of view, the painting maintains a clear continuity with the French 19th-century portrait tradition, though it incorporates a looser and more synthetic brushwork characteristic of early 20th-century painting. The result combines the sobriety of traditional portraiture with a more modern and directly pictorial execution.

The work is clearly signed “M. Perrot” and dated “1912” in the upper right corner, both elements rendered in a reddish tone and perfectly integrated into the painting surface.

Marcel Perrot is an artist still sparsely documented in the available biographical sources, so it is prudent to avoid assigning concrete birth and death dates until there is conclusive documentation. However, other works attributed to the artist are known within the art market, including figurative and Orientalist compositions.

Condition report

The painting shows signs of its age, with craquelure, wear, small losses of pictorial material, and various superficial alterations visible in the photographs, particularly in certain lower areas. It is recommended to examine the images carefully, which are an integral part of the description and allow assessment of the work’s current condition.

The work is currently framed.

IMPORTANT ABOUT THE FRAME

The frame shown in the photographs is provided exclusively as a GIFT along with the work. The frame is not part of the lot for valuation purposes, has no commercial value, and is included only as a courtesy to the buyer.

The frame also shows signs of age, wear and various defects. Any damage to the frame during transport cannot be a reason for complaint or affect the valuation of the purchased work.

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