André Derain Portrait Painting in a European Museum

5 October 2017 · Paris

A portrait by André Derain hangs on a pale gallery wall, its gold frame angled slightly toward the viewer. The sitter — a dark-haired woman in a loose cream jacket, a coral necklace at her throat — meets the eye with an expression that is steady without being warm. Derain's earth tones do the heavy lifting here: ochre, sienna, and raw umber fill the background in loose vertical panels, pushing the figure forward without drama. Figurative painting at the quieter end of early 20th-century French art — the kind that rewards a long look.