Mathilde Hautrive, Daisies and Cornflowers (1960)

MATHILDE HAUTRIVE (Lille 1881 - Paris 1963) Daisies and Cornflowers. 1960. Oil on canvas. 38 x 46 cm (frame: 50 x 58 cm) Signed and dated: M. Hautrive 1960. Mathilde Hautrive, from Lille, was one of the first generation of women artists to enter the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where her teacher was Ferdinand Humbert. A gifted artist, she received the Prix Wicar (and was the first woman to win this prize), which was awarded by the city of Lille and which granted her a scholarship to study for four years in Rome (indeed, it is the Prix de Rome for Lille). In Rome, her teacher was Carolus-Duran. Hautrive had a long and successful career painting figures, landscapes, and still lifes, and her flowers are always particularly beautiful. This work, dated 1960, comes from the end of her career; she was 79 when she painted it, and it is more powerful than ever.