József Rippl-Rónai

The canvas has not been lined. There is a tony pin hole in the upper left corner (possibly the artist's) and a tiny spot of paint flaking in the background above his shoulder. Ultra-violet light reveals some traces of old varnish that make the surface difficult to read, and some spots of retouching in the yellow pigments of the leaves. The work is in good overall condition and ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt frame.
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József Rippl-Rónai’s oeuvre may be considered as an expression of a Pan-European style which, encompassing hints of Fauvism, Art Nouveau and Expressionism, was able to bring Hungarian modern art to its peak. Born in 1861 in Kaposvár, Hungary, and after studies in Munich, Rippl-Rónai moved to Paris in 1887. He was first employed as an assistant to his compatriot Mihály Munkácsy, but soon felt the need go his own way.

The Artist and His Model can be dated to circa 1911-12, almost ten years after the artist had returned for good to his hometown. Possibly a study for My models in the Kaposvár garden, 1911, the present work coincides with the beginning of the artist’s so called 'dotted period' imbued with that post Impressionist style partly drawn from the group of the Nabis with whom he exhibited ten pictures at the Durand-Ruel Gallery in 1899, and which were clearly a source of influence in his use of contouring and of two dimensional representation. Another study for this composition is The painter at work of 1911 (Private Collection, Budapest, see József Rippl-Rónai's Collected Works, Hungarian National Gallery, 1998, p. 349, fig. 1). Yet, with a touch of playfulness lying in the subtle use of the painting-within-a-painting motif, the artist seems to distance himself from the Nabis expressionism and to develop a rather elegant style made of thick contours and wide areas of colour.