Artwork
Une Demoiselle Grecque de Livadie
Une Demoiselle Grecque de Livadie is a watercolor work on paper by the Orientalist artist Louis Dupré. It dates from 1819 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Une Demoiselle Grecque de Livadie is a watercolour drawing by Louis Dupré, portraying a young woman from Livadeia, Greece, characterized by loose brushwork and soft colouring, conveying a sense of gentle spontaneity.
Subject & Meaning
The subject is a seated Greek woman from Livadeia, dressed in a striped dress with a patterned sash and long hair draped over one shoulder, capturing a moment of everyday life with an emphasis on mood and gesture rather than detail.
Technique & Style
Executed in soft watercolours, the work features pale and subtly darker areas, with expressive, moving fabric folds achieved through quick, loose strokes, reflecting a focus on emotional capture over meticulous detail, aligning with Romantic-era expressive tendencies.
History & Provenance
Originally part of a pair, the drawing was published as plate XVI in Dupré's *Voyage à Athènes et à Constantinople* in 1825 and later sold at Bonhams in 1974.
Artist & collection
Artist
Louis Dupré traveled Ottoman lands in the 1810s and 1820s, painting watercolours of daily life like Une Demoiselle Grecque de Livadie and Mehmet Aga Salam.
