Portrait of a Young Woman (Portrait de jeune femme)

This sensitive, gemlike drawing is one of at least two small-scale studies Charles Milcendeau made of this as-yet-unidentified sitter. Here, she is portrayed rather austerely, in a black dotted dress and tidily managed hair. Could this be a tête d’étude, or head study, that he would keep on hand and use when a live model was not available' This was a common studio practice of the period. This figure also appears in several of Milcendeau’s larger paintings.