A slender, urbane Parisian woman sits under the shade of her parasol in this vibrant oil portrait by Jean-Gabriel Domergue. The young beauty dons a cream colored hat that stylishly coordinates with her dress and parasol, standing in striking contrast to the verdant green background of the surrounding park. Her confident expression and casual air are characteristic of the women in Domergue's most captivating works.

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's works captured the joie de vivre that permeated post-WWI Paris.

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.