This striking oil painting is among the largest ever composed by the celebrated French painter Jean-Pierre Cassigneul. Capturing a woman in black wearing an exuberant sunhat taking tea against a backdrop of the ocean, the composition is classic Cassigneul, exuding a calm and elegance that is unique to his aesthetic. The artist is renowned for his portraits such as this, bringing together brilliant pops of color with an atmosphere of sophistication and tranquility. His unique upbringing in the world of French fashion is keenly felt in the composition, as he brings to life on canvas the chic Parisian ideal.

One of the most popular living French artists, Cassigneul is set apart by his unique ability to produce works that feel both dramatically contemporary and classic in style. Le temps qui passe brings together two of his most common tropes: a sleepy-eyed beauty and a harbor dotted with sailboats. With its vibrant palette and flat spatial planes, Cassigneul’s style follows in the tradition of the French Post-Impressionist group known as Les Nabis, which included celebrated French artists such as Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis. Expressionist painter Kees van Dongen was another important influence on the young Cassigneul, whose portraits resemble van Dongen’s elongated, sharply contoured female forms.

Born in Paris in 1935, Cassigneul's grandfather was the founder of the ground-breaking French fashion house Jean Dessès. Raised among the glamor and excitement of the Parisian fashion world, the young Cassigneul observed models and dressmakers and runway shows from a very young age. His interest in art also manifested early, and he painted his first landscape at Deauville at the young age of 12. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, holding his first one-man exhibition at just 17. Since that first show, his work has been widely exhibited throughout the world, particularly in Western Europe, the United States, and Japan, where he enjoys an especially devoted following.