Scene of Flamenco Dancers in a Paris Cafe, likely thinly applied oil on canvas board, signed lower left.
PŠne du Bois was born in Brooklyn, NY, descended from French immigrants. He first studied with William Merritt Chase at the New York School of Art and later continued his training with Robert Henri. PŠne du Bois was greatly impressed with Henri's credo that "real life" was subject matter for art and throughout his life a realist philosophy informed his art as well as his parallel career, art criticism. In 1905, PŠne du Bois made his first visit to Paris where he painted scenes of fashionable people in cafes rendered in the dark tonalities and impasto associated with the Ashcan School. By 1920, he had achieved his mature style, which was characterized by stylized, rounded, almost sculptural figures painted with invisible brush strokes. The subjects of his paintings were often members of society whom he gently satirized.
Overall size: 23 1/2 x 31 3/8 in.
Sight size: 15 1/2 x 23 1/2 in.