Studies of Women

The French artist Albert Besnard is perhaps best known in Minneapolis for the memorable sixth birthday party of his son that John Singer Sargent recorded in his masterpiece in the museum, The Birthday Party (Gallery 351). Besnard and his wife Charlotte Dubray, both artists, were friends of the American expatriate painter in Paris. Besnard was a successful painter and printmaker. He traveled widely-through northern Africa and India and this sketch sheet was probably executed during one of these journeys.