Sylvie Descamps Monnom

1900

Sylvie Descamps Monnom, van Rysselberghe’s mother-in-law, ran a publishing house in Brussels that produced art periodicals. In this portrait, her tastes and interests are represented by the accessories surrounding her: an exotic Persian rug, a vase of irises on the mantelpiece, and four paintings on the wall. Van Rysselberghe’s pointillist technique reflects his sitter’s interest in avant-garde art. Small touches of pure color combine to produce a convincing sense of three-dimensional space and solidity, while finer brushstrokes are used to record the features of Madame Monnom’s face and hands.

Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	46 x 35 9/16 in. (116.8 x 90.3 cm) Frame: 53 x 42 9/16 x 2 1/4 in. (134.6 x 108.1 x 5.7 cm)
Object Number	1967.2
Acquisition	Acquired by the Clark, 1967
Status	Off View

Image Caption

Théo van Rysselberghe, Sylvie Descamps Monnom, 1900, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, Acquired by the Clark, 1967.2

Select Bibliography

. Gazette des Beaux-Arts: Chronique des Arts. Feb. 1968.. William M. Ittmann, Jr.. "Van Rysselberghe's Portrait of Mme. Monnom.". 67:3.. Art News.. (April 1968).:pp. 46-47, 64-66.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Norman, Geraldine. Nineteenth-Century Painters and Painting: A Dictionary. London: Thames & Hudson, 1977. Lester Lefton and Laura Valvatine.. Mastering Psychology.. Newton (MA): Allyn and Bacon.. 1984.. Lester Lefton.. Psychology, 3rd ed.. Newton (MA): Allyn and Bacon.. 1984.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Paintings on Exhibition, July 1968. Exhibition brochure. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1968.

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Provenance

Henri Cuypers, Brussels (in 1927); [Galerie de l’Institut, Paris]; Guy Pogu, Paris; sale, Christie’s, London, 2 Dec. 1966, no. 37, as Portrait de la Mère du Peintre, sold to Arthur Tooth and Sons, London, as agent for Clark; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1966.