Description:

Eugène Loup (1867-1948) was a French painter. He studied at the Académie Julian in Paris from 1887–1890. He made his debut at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français in 1889. He then exhibited at national Salons and exhibitions for years. He worked in oil and pastel. He specialized in capturing the image of women in a melancholy atmosphere.

Description of the painting:

The artist has depicted a woman sitting on a chair on the canvas. The model is shown full-length. She is dressed in a long black skirt, on which the folds of almost uniform surface are rendered through light and shade. The upper part of the body is covered with a voluminous cloak. The delicate brushstrokes make it seem like it is made of fur. The woman’s hands are resting on the armrest of the chair and the table next to it. Her head is leaning on her right shoulder. The features of the model, although without distinct contours, are legible. On her face there is a look of exhaustion, the titular exhaustion. Her gaze is fixed in the lower left corner of the painting. The figure is in a sparsely furnished room. The background almost blends into the clothes and dark hair of the woman, as if integrating her into the space.

The painting is almost monochromatic. The colour palette is based on shades of brown. The artist differentiates surfaces using pointillist technique – applying paint with tiny dots. This is especially visible on the walls behind the model. Despite the almost identical colouring, the artist emphasizes the planes through vertical and horizontal arrangement of brush strokes. The pattern of the left wallpaper is created through their circular arrangement. The woman portrayed on the canvas is probably the artist‘s regular model. Her posture and facial expression show exhaustion. This impression is intensified by the monochromatic palette in subdued shades, which creates a feeling of mystery and melancholy.