He was commissioned by the Chilean painter, politician and diplomat Ramón Subercaseaux to paint this portrait of Subercaseaux' daughters Bianca and Rosaria. Zorn was probably introduced to Subercaseaux by Sargent, who painted a notable portrait of Subercaseaux' wife Шаблон:Interlanguage link multi. Boldini also painted portraits of the Subercaseaux family.[1]
Painting
While Boldini's portraits of the Subercaseaux boys portray them conventionally as aware of the viewer, Zorn's portrait of the girls captures their private world, unaware of the viewer's gaze. To this end, Zorn adopts an unusual perspective, tilting the plane of the floor upwards and assuming the position of the girls himself. In all this he was foreshadowed by his Paris-based contemporary Mary Cassatt, whose 1878 Little Girl in a Blue Armchair also sought to observe the private world of her subject.[1]
Provenance
Commissioned by Ramón Subercaseaux, Paris (1892)
Matias Errazuriz, Buenos Aires (by descent from the above, his cousin, 1937)
Josefina Errazuriz Alvear, Buenos Aires (by descent from the above, her father)
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, October 27, 1988, lot 141, illustrated
Verner Amell, Stockholm
Private Collection, Stockholm
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, May 28, 1992, lot 117, illustrated
It was offered for sale at a Sotheby's (New York) 19th Century European Art auction held 3 November 2015, but was bought in.[1]