A Young Woman of Leisure
A Young Woman of Leisure c1885 by Belgian Painter Pierre Olivier Joseph Coomans (1816 – 1889); was a romantic portrait artist depicting young women of mythological and heroic events; as well as specializing in creating scenes of the life and times of the people of Pompeii, before the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
This a lovely portrait of a young lady with golden blonde hair that is reclining either on a long couch or a bed covered with satin cloth or sheets.
She is lying on her chest propped up by a giant embroidered pillow, with her head turned to the viewer with a slight smile on her face.
She is wearing a white garment and a gold bracelet on her left forearm that is positioned over her right forearm that is placed on the pillow.
This is a remastered digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available as a rolled canvas print online.
Information Below Derived From Wikipedia.org
Pierre was born in Brussels, Belgium on June 28, 1816 to Josse-Joseph Coomans (1787 – 1868) the inspector of registration and estates, author of novels, poetry, and his wife Cécile Lesprit (1792 – 1871).
By the age of 16 Pierre was already am accomplished talented draftsman, and studied under the Neoclassical Belgian Painter Pieter van Hanselaere (1786 – 1862); exhibiting in Ghent at the first National Fine Arts Exhibition, with his piece “A Young Greek Shepherd”.
After exhibiting his first work he began studing at the Academy of Antwerp under the prominent Historical Romantic Belgian Painter Nicaise de Keyser (1813 – 1887) and Romantic Belgian Painter Gustave Wappers (1803 – 1874).
When he was 19, he created 52 engravings and historical titles for the book the History of Belgium, which was written by his older bother; and also authored the book Gzana, which is a novel based on Algerian history.
When he was 38 years of age he joined the military and served under General Aimable Pélissier (1794 – 1864) in the Crimean War (1853 – 1856) as a military painter; and during this time produced paints based on medieval historical events and portraits.
In 1855 Pierre contracted Cholera, which forced him to leave the battlefields to recuperate from his illness; where upon he traveled to Constantinople, then Greece, and Italy.
Then in 1856 he moved to Naples with his second where he was exposed to the excavations in Pompeii, which inspired him to create genre paintings of antiquity in the Neo-Pompeian style.
