Octave Guillonnet is the painter of sports, from tennis to rugby, to the 1924 Olympic Games,
Decorator of private mansions, churches and national monuments. He was a precursor of the Arts Décos:
mosaic, ceramics, stained glass...

In 1902 he received a travel grant to Algeria. He was greatly influenced by light and colour and his paintings became increasingly colourful.

This painting, representing the artist's wife, Eugenie, seems to have been painted in the years 1904-1905.
Eugenie was then 33 years old, beautiful, young and graceful, and her husband sublimated her with the colours he applied.
The orange and violet colours provide a striking contrast with the whiteness of her skin. Guillonnet shows here all his talent as a colourist.