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Painted in a fluid Impressionist manner, this composition is executed using broken color in a harmonious balance of blues, pinks, lavenders, and yellows.

Ritman spent almost two decades in Giverny, where he came under the influence of the Impressionist style.

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Louis Ritman

Early Morning Sunshine, 1913

oil on canvas

36 3/8 x 29 1/8

Partial and Promised Gift of Jane and Andrew Paine

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In the summer of 1909 Louis Ritman enrolled in the L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, the most prestigious art academy in the city. Around 1911 he moved to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet, where he spent almost two decades. In Giverny, Ritman came under the influence of the American Impressionists Richard Miller and Frederick Frieseke. He was particularly inspired by their paintings of women in domestic interiors and garden settings. Their approach differed from that of the previous group of artists who had spent time in Giverny in that they had shifted their focus from the landscape to an emphasis on the figure. They were recognized for their paintings of women relaxing in their boudoirs or in sunlit gardens. By the summer of 1913, Ritman was producing images of nude and partially draped figures in indoor and outdoor scenes.

Early Morning Sunshine shows an attractive woman, probably the artist’s favorite model, Mimi, seated on the ledge of an open window that reveals a backdrop of brilliant foliage. The artist executed the composition using broken color in a harmonious balance of blues, pinks, lavenders and yellows. Painted in a fluid and delicate manner, this intimate interior is typical of the artist’s early Giverny canvases.

Reference

Richard H. Love. Louis Ritman: From Chicago to Giverny. Chicago: Haase Mumm Publishing Company, ISBN-13: 978-0940114289