The Two Sisters (Lemmen painting)

The Two Sisters

Artist	Georges Lemmen
Year	1894
Type	Oil painting on canvas
Dimensions	60.01 cm × 70.01 cm (23.625 in × 27.563 in)
Location	Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis

The Two Sisters, also known as The Serruys Sisters is an 1894 oil painting by Belgian artist Georges Lemmen, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. It uses pointillism to depict the sisters Jenny and Berthe Serruys.^[1]

Description

This double portrait of eight-year-old Jenny and twelve-year-old Berthe is typical of Lemmen's detailed, austere portraiture. He depicted the pair with penetrating gazes and a commanding presence, quite unlike the usual sentimentality of children's portraits. The painted wooden frame is original, one of the few surviving Neo-Impressionist frames.^[2] While the red of the girls' dresses and the blue of the background are the dominant colors, Lemmen used green and orange dots across the painting and the frame to enhance those hues. Utilizing the opposite ends of the color wheel means the contrast effect stimulates greater brilliance in the red and blue than they would have evoked on their own.^[3]

Historical information

Lemmen was a friend of the Serruys family. His growing interest in the arts and crafts movement can be seen in the attention he paid to the tablecloth's pattern and money plant's twining tendrils. At the time of this portrait, he was still adhering quite closely to the rigors of Neo-Impressionism, though he would later shift to looser brushwork and division of color.^[4]

Acquisition

Edmond Serruys, the girls' father, commissioned the painting from Lemmen, then left it to Jenny Serruys Bradley, the younger subject, upon his death in 1917. It left her possession in the 1960s, traveling from galleries in London and New York to end in the collection of W.J. Holliday, who bequeathed it to the IMA in 1979. It has the acquisition number 79.317. It currently hangs in the Robert H. & Ina M. Mohlman Gallery.^[4]

References

↑ "Georges Lemmen". Cultured. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
↑ Lee, Ellen Wardwell; Robinson, Anne (2005). Indianapolis Museum of Art: Highlights of the Collection. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art. ISBN 0936260777.
↑ "Into the Bowls of Creativity". Rogue Woman. 9 Mar 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
1 2 "The Two Sisters or The Serruys Sisters". Indianapolis Museum of Art. Retrieved 6 January 2013.

External links

IMA page.

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Artworks in the Collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art

Significant
Artworks

African Art	Face mask Senufo female ancestor figure Magbo helmet mask for Oro society Palace plaque depicting warrior Guardian figure Healing of Abiku Children

American Painting and Sculpture to 1945	Afternoon Tea Cliff Rock--Appledore Dorothy Hotel Lobby Hurricane Jimson Weed Morning at Grand Manan Preparing for the Matinee Red Kimono on the Roof Reflections Sunlight The Boat Builders The Flight of Europa The Love Song The Rainbow Tidying Up U.S.A. Untitled (The Birth)

Asian Art	Bowl with two violet spots Cong-shaped vase Covered jar with carp design Fine Wind, Clear Morning Ksitigarbha bodhisattva Ritual wine server Shigaraki ware storage jar Vase with carved peony scrolls Vase with nine peach design

Contemporary Art	Acton Courre Merlan (Whiting Chase) Egyptian Barnyard LOVE (painting) LOVE (sculpture) The Quintet of the Silent They Waz Nice White Folks While They Lasted (Sez One Gal to Another) Untitled Untitled Untitled

Decorative Arts	Angel of the Resurrection Coffee service High chest of drawers Portland Vase Side chair

European Painting and Sculpture to 1945	Aristotle Battle Between Carnival and Lent Breton Women at a Wall Broek in Waterland Charing Cross Bridge Crucifix Crucifixion Enclosed Field with Peasant Entry of Christ into Jerusalem Entry of Christ into Jerusalem House in Provence Landscape near Arles Ma Jolie Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Mary Magdalene Man and Woman Peasant with a Wheelbarrow Rebecca and Eliezer at the Well Roman Capriccio: The Pantheon and Other Monuments Self-Portrait Still Life with a Chinese Porcelain Jar Still Life with Profile of Laval The Banks of the Oise near Pontoise The Boy The Channel of Gravelines, Petit Fort Philippe The Country Dance The Crucifixion The Fifth Plague of Egypt The Flageolet Player on the Cliff The Flight into Egypt The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist The House of the Deaf Woman and the Belfry at Eragny The Negress The Seamstress The Triumphant Entry of Constantine into Rome The Two Sisters The Valkhof at Nijmegen Triptych of the Annunciation Vorhor, the Green Wave

Art of the Americas	Haida ceremonial dance rattle

Oceanic Art	Helmet mask (Tatanua)

Prints, Drawings, and Photographs	Blasting St. Vincent's Rock, Clifton Boreas and Oreithyia Galinthias Outwits Eileithyia by Announcing the Birth of Heracles Mother (Mutter) Moulin Rouge: La Goulue The Holy Family with the Dragonfly Young Woman in Blue

Textile and Fashion Arts	Moroccan wall hanging Chinese Souls #2 Eli Lilly Family Quilt Evening dress Woman's apron Sumbanese woman's ceremonial skirt

Outdoor
Artworks
by Location

Museum Grounds	Above and Below La Hermana del Hombre Bóveda LOVE Memories of Prague Mother and Child Numbers 1-0 Snowplow Stumbling Man Sutphin Fountain Two Figures Two Lines Oblique Down, Variation III

Oldfields	Copy of Diana of Versailles Diana with Dog Female and Male Herm Fountain Four Seasons Landon-Era Birdbath Mother and Child (Gordine) Nymph and Fawn Sundial, Boy With Spider The Three Graces Pair of Urns

100 Acres	Bench Around the Lake Eden II Free Basket Funky Bones Indianapolis Island Park of Laments Stratum Pier Team Building (Align)

Artworks on Loan	East Gate/West Gate Mega-Gem Portrait of History Sewall Memorial Torches Spaces with Iron

De-accessioned Artworks	Broken Walrus II Holistic Image VIII Weather Tower

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