Portrait of Dorothea von Geusau
| Dating | April 1897 |
|---|---|
| Material / technique | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 62 x 51 cm |
| Literature | |
| Exhibitions | |
| Provenance | Alting von Geusau Family, the Netherlands |
| Current residence | private property Utrecht, the Netherlands |
| Signature | b.l. HRI [underlined] GOOVAERTS [illegible] /4 97 |
| Headings | |
| Remarks | ‘My good old mother is doing pretty well, but she is very weak. I hope I can keep her with me for a few more years.’ Baron Gérard von Geusau wrote this at the beginning of January 1897 to his friend Henri Goovaerts, who was working in Hamburg at the time. Von Geusau's mother would die at the end of May of that year. Henri Goovaerts painted her portrait only a month before her death. The woman in question is Dorothea Helena Catharina von Geusau, born De Ras (1816-1897). She is portrayed with respect for her age; the paintbrush realistically reveals the irregular shading in her loosened skin. Her gaze is sad, her eyes look teary. Striking is her sober black dress, only brightened up by the gold ring on her hand; its shine is an echo of her watery eyes. Dorothea might be represented here as a grieving widow and mother. This daughter of a colonel from Napoleon's army married twice. Altogether she had four sons and one daughter. She would survive both her husbands and three of her sons. At the end of her life she lived with her only living son Gérard, at Tongersestraat no. 4 in Maastricht. Goovaerts also painted a portrait of Gérard (1903), as well as one of Dorothea's granddaughter Dorothée Colen (1898). (Letter from Gérard von Geusau to Henri Goovaerts dated 2 January 1897 in the archive of Lily Goovaerts). |