Studio Party

February 25, 2010

Studio Party, or Soiree, by Florine Stettheimer, (Oil on canvas, 32 x 33.5 inches)

The figures in this painting of a gathering at American artist Florine Stettheimer’s studio would have been recognizable to many friends and visitors to her home; Stettheimer biographer Barbara J. Bloemink identifies the guests at the party and the other images in the room as follows: “At the top left, Ettie [Stettheimer,] Isabell Lachaise, and Maurice Stern gather below a copy of Florine’s Family Portrait No. 1, in which the figure of [her mother] Rosetta and a portion of the central bouquet are visible. On the lower left, Gaston Lachaise and Albert Gleizes, both artists, stand facing a canvas visible to the viewer only from its back. Avery Hopwood and Leo Stein sit in the center area; behind them is the Hindu poet Sankar sitting directly before Stettheimer’s nude self-portrait on a large easel. At the right Mme Gleizes, Florine, and a partial figure wearing a Harlequin costume rest on a red and white couch.” (Barbara J. Bloemink, The Life and Art of Florine Stettheimer, New Haven: Yale University Press,1995, p. 96).