Dimensions: 14 7/16 × 11 5/8 in. (36.67 × 29.53 cm) (sheet)23 × 17 5/8 × 3/4 in. (58.42 × 44.77 × 1.91 cm) (outer frame)
Copyright: Public Domain
Pierre-Georges Jeanniot created this drawing, "Woman Seated in an Armchair," using graphite and charcoal on paper. The composition presents a full-length portrait, dominated by the figure of a woman, whose form is delineated with a striking economy of line. The artist's strategic use of hatching and cross-hatching not only models the figure and the armchair, but also creates a dynamic interplay of light and shadow. The texture of the charcoal enriches the surface, giving a tactile quality to the work. The restricted palette of blacks, greys, and touches of brown serves to emphasize the structure and form of the subject. This aesthetic approach reflects the broader artistic concerns of the period. The drawing's visual structure echoes a semiotic system, where lines and forms act as signs, communicating the subject's social positioning and inner composure. The drawing encourages us to consider how such formal decisions reflect and shape our understanding of the subject.
Comments
This alert, fashionably dressed woman is the archetype of the Belle Époque Parisienne—a woman able to enjoy middle-class leisure in Paris when it seemed to be the capital of the world, a place of limitless possibility. Though she looks at her surroundings, she is equally aware of being seen. Pierre-Georges Jeanniot traded in his military career for the life of an artist in Paris. When he achieved success, he settled down to study, sometimes with a jaundiced eye, the life of the middle class in the metropolis. Though capable as a painter, his true calling was as a draftsman. He contributed illustrations for serious literature, cartoons, and sketches for popular magazines, and made independent drawings such as this one. One can readily imagine this drawing in the boudoir or parlor of a woman of the type depicted, a mirror of how the purchaser would like to be seen.
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