111 - Jean Gabriel Domergue, Half-nude portrait of a young woman (pin-up) with wild blonde hair, watercolour

Jean Gabriel Domergue, Half-nude portrait of a young woman (pin-up) with wild blonde hair, watercolour Jean-Gabriel Domergue, 1889 Bordeaux - 1962 Paris, French painter and poster artist, best known for his stylised, elegant depictions of fashionable Parisian women; here: a semi-nude portrait of a young woman with a ‘swan-like neck’ and wild blonde curls, watercolour from the 1950s, 27.5 x 19.5 cm, signed on the right About the artist: Jean Gabriel Domergue studied at the ‘École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts’ in Paris and exhibited at the Paris Salon at the age of just 17. In his early years, he mainly painted landscapes and beach scenes before developing his characteristic portrait style. From the 1920s onwards, he devoted himself almost exclusively to portraying elegant Parisian women. His figures are characterised by slender silhouettes, long ‘swan-like necks’, large eyes and a sophisticated air. Furthermore, Domergue claimed to have invented the concept of the ‘pin-up’, as his light, glamorous portraits of women reflected the spirit of the ‘Années Folles’ and high society. In addition to painting, he created numerous Art Deco posters and advertisements for Parisian events, theatres and companies (such as Galeries Lafayette). In 1913, he won second prize in the Prix de Rome, followed by a gold medal in 1920. In 1950, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts.