C. 1925, oil on canvas, 185 x 58 cm, original canvas and frame.

MSDS

Painting signed lower left of the canvas: “Herman Richir”

Inscription painted on the back of the canvas: “Rose of Isfahan by Herman Richir”

Label of the “Galerie Georges Giroux SPRL / 347 / n°225 / Richir”

L: 158 cm XH: 185 cm with frame

L: 140 cm XH: 165,5 cm without frame

Origin 

Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux in Brussels, 1957: 

Sale No. 347: “Catalogue of the sale … ​​which will take place at public auction on Saturday March 16, 1957 … and which will disperse modern paintings, sculptures and etchings”, (Me F. de Coene, Georges Willems – Giroux (expert), M. Bytebier (photographer)), Brussels Galerie Georges Giroux SPRL 1957, lot 225.

Private collection.

Exhibitions 

Herman Richir Exhibition, Brussels Artistic and Literary Circle, Waux-Hall Parc, from December 8 to 18, 1925, no. 20 Rose of Ispahan.

Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts at the Grand Palais in Paris, from May 30 to June 1926, 1034, no. XNUMX Rose d'Ispahan. 

Herman Richir Exhibition, Petite Galerie de Bruxelles, 17 avenue Louise, from December 4 to 14, 1926, n°14 Rose d'Ispahan.

Work notice  

The Rose of Isfahan embodied by the captivating female figure seated on a divan made of multi-colored oriental fabrics is a testament to the talent of Herman Richir as a colorist, the official portraitist of the Belgian bourgeoisie of the 20th century. Our painting offers the image of a recomposed Orient through the features of a woman whose identity remains as mysterious as her dazzling beauty. 

Presented three times – in December 1925 at the very elitist Cercle Artistique et Littéraire de Bruxelles, the following year in Paris at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and finally at the Petite Galerie de Bruxelles – the painting Rose d'Ispahan belongs to the most prolific mature period of Herman Richir's career. His rise in the art world was rapid. At the age of twenty, he won the second second prize in the major painting competition ex aequo with Joseph Middeleer, who had previously trained with the engraver Gustave Biot who taught at the Académie de Saint-Josse, the painter Charles Hermans, and Jean-François Portaels at the Académie de Bruxelles. In 1887, Herman Richir made his debut at the Salon de la Société royale des Beaux-Arts. Two portraits by him were awarded an honorable mention at the Universal Exhibition of 1889.

He received a third-class medal in 1890 for his submissions to the selective Salon des Artistes Français. Subsequently, Herman Richir preferred to exhibit his works, almost annually, at the more modern Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. From 1903 and for more than thirty years, his paintings were hung on the walls of the Salon de la Société Nationale, to which he was elected a member in 1906. Two paintings caused a particular sensation there: the portrait of a little girl, En blanc, exhibited in 1906 and immediately purchased by the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and Le châle rouge, in 1914, also presented under the title The Red Shawl in the Belgian section of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. At the turn of the XNUMXth century, Herman Richir's reputation continued to grow and spread throughout Europe. Beyond Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels, his paintings can be seen in Barcelona, ​​Turin and Paris. 

From the beginning, the painter excelled in the art of portraiture. The Belgian royal couple posed in front of Herman Richir, who presented his works at the Triennale des Beaux-Arts exhibition in Brussels in 1914 and after the war in Paris, at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, in 1919. The human figure became the central motif of his painting. Didn't the artist usually say: "A portrait, a nude, these two paintings sum up my career!" While the title of our painting maintains the mystery surrounding the identity of the young woman, her lovely face is known from a more intimate painting, which went on sale in Lokeren on 27 October 2012 (Portrait of a Young Lady, sale "Old Masters – Modern and Contemporary Art, Galerie De Vuyst, lot no. 225). Her devastating charm comes from the perfect oval of her face, her mischievous look, her red lips and her blue eyes, highlighted by the measured pose chosen with taste and elegance by the painter. Rose of Ispahan bewitches the viewer as much by her luxurious finery as by the flame of her gaze. Here, Herman Richir makes immoderate use of exotic accessories: carpets, fabrics covering the sofa, oriental costume, turban, pearls, slippers...

The title bears a multiple reference to the mythical, literary and musical Orient. Described as the queen of flowers, the rose of Isfahan is rare and renowned for its fragrant qualities since the end of the XVIth century. It gave Isfahan its reputation as the "city of Roses" or even the "rose of the Orient". The painter plays with the metaphor of the flower-woman. Ribboned, dressed in pearls and bright silks, the latter is presented in a shimmering setting. It is indeed a question of the representation of a heady Orient, a Western image composed by artists for the pleasure of their contemporaries. The perfumed essence of the Roses of Isfahan inspired the poet Charles-Marie Leconte de Lisle, whose musical adaptation for one voice by the composer Gabriel Fauré (Les roses d'Ispahan. Opus 39, n°4) has left its mark since 1884. 

Annex (see photos)