In this vibrantly hued oil portrait, Jean-Gabriel Domergue paints a model that appeared repeatedly in his work, a beauty known as Aline. Depicted with her blonde hair in a fashionable updo against a soft pastel-colored backdrop, Aline embodies the youth, vitality and sophistication Domergue’s compositions are known for. The slender, modern women of Domergue’s paintings exude confidence and self-awareness, culminating in a perfect blend of prowess and elegance unique to his work and earning him the reputation of “inventor of the pin-up.”

Born in Bordeaux in 1889, Domergue studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He was only 17 years old when he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français for the first time, winning the Prix du Rome in 1911 and a gold medal in 1920. While landscapes dominated his early oeuvre, from the 1920s he changed his focus to what would become his trademark subject, la belle Parisienne. Domergue enjoyed a tremendously successful career. From 1955 until 1962 he was the curator of the Musée Jacquemart-André, organizing exhibitions of the works of van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and Goya, among others. Domergue was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur and also served as a Fellow of the Academy of Fine Arts.