Oil on canvas, 50 x 64 cm
Signed lower right: E. Coisne.
Retrospective exhibition, February 19-20, 1993, Ghent
Born into Ghent’s upper-class society, Elvire Coisne exhibited her paintings during the 1890s at the Triennial Salons and the Ghent Artistic Circle. Her marriage in 1899 to a soap manufacturer took her away from the artistic world. The couple would have four children.
Elvire Coisne, married to Bondue, painted subjects traditionally assigned to female painters: landscapes, family portraits, and especially flower paintings. These paintings were not sold and therefore remained in the family circle. This rare painting thus testifies to the artist’s aesthetic. It depicts a field of begonias in Drongen (Tronchiennes), a wealthy suburb of Ghent.
The influence of her mentor, Émile Claus (1849-1924), is clearly evident, whether in the subject matter, the Impressionist touch, the interest in light or the range of pinkish colours. It was through contact with Émile Claus that Elvire Coisne became friends with the painter Jenny Montigny.