Portrait of Victor Segalen

In 1909 Victor Segalen, a French naval doctor who also wrote poetry, left for China, where he would spend much of his last decade and publish his best-known collection, Stèles, in Beijing in 1912. Monfreid painted him just before, in 1908 or 1909. Segalen reads with his cheek resting on his hand, pince-nez on his nose, a book open on a red patterned cloth. Behind him hangs a picture of breaking waves in a gilded frame, a small carved figure stands at the edge, and a brass vase holds a bunch of small purple flowers. The colours are strong and warm, laid on in visible strokes. The painting is oil on paper mounted on canvas. The Musée d'Orsay bought it in 2025 from a descendant of the sitter.