Description:

JULES PASCIN (BULGARIAN-FRENCH 1885-1930)
Hermine en Bleu, 1916
oil on canvas
43 x 27 cm (17 x 10 3/4 in.)
framed dimensions: 62.2 x 45.7 cm (24.5. x 18 in)
signed lower right

PROVENANCE
Lucy Krohg, Paris
Guy Krohg, Paris
Harvey S. Lubitz, New York
Christie's, New York, 15 May 1979, Lot 39
Private Collection (acquired at above sale)
Christie's, New York, 11 May 1994, Lot 176
Janet Traeger Salz, New York
Makler Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Private Collection, Philadelphia
Freeman's, 17 November 2021, Lot 8
Private Collection, New York

EXHIBITED
Nice, Palais de la Mediterranee, Feb-April, 1970

LITERATURE
Y. Hemin, G. Krohg, K. Perls and A. Rambert, Pascin, Catalogue raisonne, peintures, aquarelles, pastels, dessins, Paris, 1987, vol II, no. 439 (illustrated)

LOT NOTES
The present lot depicts Pascin's wife and muse, Hermine David. Hermine, herself an influential Ecole de Paris artist, and granddaughter of the revolutionary painter Jacques Louis David, was introduced to Pascin in 1907 while she was a student at the Academie Julian. By 1915 she followed Pascin to the United States, where they married in 1918.

Jules Pascin, born Julius Mordecai Pincas to a Sephardic Jewish family in Bulgaria, was a quintessential cosmopolitan artist who emerged as a leading figure of the Ecole de Paris (School of Paris) group of artists. After receiving his education in Vienna and Munich, where he gained early recognition as a satirical illustrator for the magazine Simplicissimus, he moved to Paris in 1905 and adopted his famous pseudonym. As the Prince of Montparnasse, he became a fixture of the bohemian cafe culture alongside contemporaries like Modigliani and Soutine, eventually relocating to the United States during the First World War. During his American years, he achieved naturalized citizenship and traveled extensively through the South and Cuba, blending his European sensibilities with a new fascination for American street life.

His artistic legacy is defined by his celebrated pearly period, during which he developed a signature technique of applying thin, vaporous oil glazes and pastels to create an iridescent, shimmering effect. This style was characterized by a delicate and trembling line that captured his subjects with a sense of spontaneous yet precise intimacy. He was particularly known for his sensitive depictions of women in unposed, vulnerable states, moving away from traditional eroticism toward a more melancholic and soulful exploration of the human form. His mastery of these light, atmospheric textures earned him significant commercial success and the representation of major galleries like Bernheim-Jeune.

The conclusion of Pascin's life was as dramatic as his career, marked by a struggle with depression and alcoholism that led to his suicide in 1930 on the eve of a major solo exhibition. His death prompted a massive outpouring of grief from the Parisian art community, with galleries across the city closing their doors in a rare show of universal respect as thousands joined his funeral procession. Today, his contributions to modern art are preserved in the permanent collections of the world's most prestigious institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, and the Art Institute of Chicago, cementing his status as a vital bridge between European and American modernism.

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March 28, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
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