Carole Pinto Fine Arts

Born in New York City, Louise Busch was part of a large contingency of American painters who went to Paris in order to study at the excellent art academies and spend time copying masters at the Louvre.  She adopted Paris as her home, interacting with many of her fellow expats and succeeded in having her work exhibited at the prestigious Salon d’Automne in Paris.

This charming interior scene is a nod and a wink to the work of Edouard Vuillard, a popular French Nabis painter who painted many intimate interior scenes that feature a juxtaposition of colorful, contrasting patterns that create animated, highly personal compositions.  In this work, a large stove reveals a flickering orange flame which generates an atmosphere of warmth and comfort.  The sitter’s black slippers, combined with a large fluffy pillow behind his head, and the presence of a cat snoozing on his lap, contribute to an overall feeling of ‘bien-etre’.   Colorful wallpaper, cluttered bookshelves and a hanging white towel add to the immediacy of the scene,and recall the interior of the garret depicted in the opening of Puccini’s opera, ‘La Boheme’.