The artwork “Portrait of Suzanne Bambridge” is a significant composition by Paul Gauguin completed in 1891. This oil on canvas painting is a notable example of the Post-Impressionism movement and measures 70 by 50 centimeters. The genre of the painting is a portrait, and it currently resides at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, in Brussels, Belgium.
The artwork depicts a frontal view of a seated woman with a calm and reserved facial expression. Suzanne Bambridge, the subject, is portrayed against a relatively dark background that contains some floral elements. Her attire is richly adorned with a floral pattern, adding a vibrant contrast to her delicate white collar and the somber tones of the background. The brushwork is characteristic of Gauguin’s style during this period, with bold, flat forms and an expressive use of color that suggests depth and texture, while also flattening the spatial perspective in a manner that was innovative for that era. The colors, dark and rich, enhance the reflective mood of the subject, and the painting as a whole exudes a sense of introspective tranquility.
