1893
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Portrait of Madame Jules Ricard, née Augustine Bulteau is a 1893 by Fernand Khnopff, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows a calm woman in a dark dress, holding a book. Her face is soft but sharp in the light. The artist used simple lines to keep her face clear. Madame Augustine Bulteau ran salons where famous artists met. She looks smart but not stiff, like she’s pausing between pages. You might compare this to Fernand Khnopff (Belgian, 1858–1921).
Although Fernand Khnopff was best known for depicting femmes fatales—threatening or dangerous women—this drawing offers a personalized and intimate depiction of its sitter, Augustine Bulteau. A prolific novelist and writer, Bulteau hosted a regular salon for artists such as Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec. She appears dressed conservatively but fashionably, holding her place in a book as if interrupted while reading.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Fernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff (12 September 1858 – 12 November 1921) was a Belgian symbolist painter and one of the founding members of the avant-garde group Les XX in 1883.
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