Portrait of a Young Woman (Profil de jeune fille)

This work depicting a young woman in profile is one of only a few impressions that Aristide Maillol printed on yellow paper. The sheet’s bright tone became a compositional element, allowing it to complement and contrast with the stark black lines the artist drew with lithographic crayon. Maillol was deeply influenced by an exhibition of prints on the same color of paper by Paul Gauguin at the 1889 Universal Exposition, and he made this work shortly after. The image’s border, heavy outlines, and linear style resemble tapestry, a medium Maillol had also begun to work with at this time.