Minneapolis Institute of Art

Portrait of Madame S.

Karel de Nerée

Date

c. 1900

Medium

Graphite on paper

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Karel de Nerée was a short-lived draftsman who was active in the early 1900s. His work was virtually unknown during his lifetime, with several exhibitions coming after his death from tuberculosis. This is a drawing from early in his career, around the time he was twenty years old and quietly involved with his lover, Claartje Rijnbende. She later recalled that together they would read somewhat scandalous poetry. This innocent femme fragile (fragile woman), embodying mysterious spiritual love and chaste purity, may be a portrait of Claartje. After they broke up the following year, he dropped the fragile woman as a subject for his art and switched over to the dangerous, seductive femme fatale. Netherlands, Europe

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