Lady Entering a Room

Jean-Jacques Karpff chose an unusual concept for the portrait of this young woman. He showed her in full length while entering a house. Her left hand is resting playfully on the door handle, and in her right hand, she is holding a veil that is billowing out behind her head in a draft of air. The perspective allows the observer to look into the garden which the lady is just leaving. A pond with a swan can be seen in front of some trees and a church tower. A lyre placed on a chair in the room behind the door indicates the lady’s musical activity. 

Karpff, who came from Colmar, was an original artist in many respects. One of his peculiarities was that he only created miniatures in black ink, shading the faces and clothing with regular, diagonal lines. The background, by contrast, was painted in layers of glaze that were applied broadly. The purpose of these different techniques was to bring the portrait to life. The hatching creates a kind of visual vibration for the eye. 

Karpff signed his works “Casimir”. He had taken this name while training in Jacques-Louis David’s studio in Paris, supposedly because his fellow students found his real name unpronounceable.¹ 

B. P.