The Lady in White

In April 1880 the Impressionists opened their fifth group show in rented rooms on the rue des Pyramides in Paris, and Marie Bracquemond sent in three works. This tall canvas was one of them, listed in the catalogue simply as a portrait. Her model was her half-sister Louise, seated outdoors on an oriental rug spread straight onto the grass. Almost the whole picture is given over to one white dress. Its frills and pleats are built from grey-blue and cream shadows picked up from the dark foliage behind her. Look down at the hem and you can find the pale ankle boots peeping out from the ruffles. The French state bought the painting in 1919, and it then spent 90 years on loan to the museum in Cambrai, in northern France, before coming back to Paris in 2019.