Ghysberts Collection
Sale: Sotheby's, London, 2nd December 1971, lot 23
Neirinck Collection
Sale: Christie's, London, 31st March 1981, lot 151
Private Collection (purchased at the above sale)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Ghent, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tentoonstelling Scaldis, 1956, no. 40

Ronald Feltkamp, Théo van Rysselberghe, Catalogue raisonné, Brussels, 2003, no. 1906-008, illustrated p. 357

This work is clearly in wonderful condition. It remains on its original stretcher. The paint layer is clean and possibly lightly varnished. Under ultraviolet light, despite the fact that some of the original paint reads strongly in the headband of the figure, the only retouches are to a thin scratch in her right bicep. The painting should be hung as is. The above condition report has been prepared by Simon Parkes, an independent conservator who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The intimacy evoked in Femme au miroir is one of utmost delicacy and sensuality. In a play of mirroring perspectives, van Rysselberghe invites the viewer to gaze at the sitter’s back as she braids her flowing hair in a moment of serene contemplation. A member of the Belgian avant-garde and of the exhibiting society Les Vingt, van Rysselberghe was exposed to the leading European artists of his time. However, it was the close observation of Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Ile de la Grande Jatte in Paris in 1886, now at the Art Institute of Chicago, that transformed the artist’s style, solidifying a lasting adherence to Pointillism in his works.

In this particular work, van Rysselberghe’s brushstrokes are slightly more elongated and fluid, contributing to a vivacious surface and tactile sense of depth. Van Rysselberghe focuses on texture throughout the composition, the vivid wallpaper acting as a backdrop to the scene, its rich deep crimson petals echoing the intricacy and colour of the sitter’s braid. In a contrast of materials, the softness of her hair is further intertwined to t💃he golden frame; her hair framing her features as the mirror frames her reflection. Radically, van Rysselberghe is here challenging the canons of portraiture by avoiding the traditional full-frontal representation of its sitter. The diaphanous bare shoulder of the sitter acts as a prop, evoking the sense of touch, and soliꦯciting a physical entry to the scene. The viewer is invited into a world of placid inner contemplation, one perhaps at odds with the richness of the surface evoked; it is van Rysselberghe’s key to a world of immersive visual experience.