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The Three Sisters

Louis (George Louis Robert) Bouché

American Art

Louis Bouché’s portrait of the three Stettheimer sisters—from left to right, Florine, Carrie, and Ettie—evokes the whimsical decorative style and material opulence of their New York apartment, the site of a salon frequented by Bouché, Marcel Duchamp, and other figures of the artistic vanguard. Although he treated forms in a simplified and Cubist manner, Bouché imbued each of his sitters with a unique personality, conveying their eccentricity and independence. Florine was herself a successful artist, Ettie was a writer, and Carrie was a hostess and creator of a dollhouse replica of the Stettheimer home (Museum of the City of New York).
MEDIUM Graphite on cream, moderately thick, moderately textured laid paper
DATES 1918
DIMENSIONS sheet: 24 3/16 x 18 7/8 in. (61.4 x 47.9 cm)  (show scale)
SIGNATURE Signed across bottom edge, in graphite: "--THE THREE SISTERS--", "L. BOUCHE" and "1918--"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 45.121
CREDIT LINE Gift of Ettie Stettheimer
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Verso: light drawing of figure, entire sheet painted over in blue watercolor
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Louis (George Louis Robert) Bouché (American, 1896-1969). The Three Sisters, 1918. Graphite on cream, moderately thick, moderately textured laid paper, sheet: 24 3/16 x 18 7/8 in. (61.4 x 47.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Ettie Stettheimer, 45.121 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 45.121_IMLS_PS4.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 45.121_IMLS_PS4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
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