Isabella, also known as ''Young Woman with a Fan'''','' is a 1906 painting by

Simon Maris Simon Willem Maris (May 21, 1873 – January 22, 1935) was a Dutch painter best known as a portrait artist. He was the son of Dutch landscape painter Willem Maris of the Hague School. Life and work He was born in The Hague. Simon Maris was a s ...

. It is currently in the collection of the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Description

The artwork measures 41 by 29 cm, and is composed of

oil paint Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. Oil paint also has practical advantages over other paints, mainly because it is waterproof. The earliest surviving ...

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

. The portrait shows a twelve-year-old girl known only as Isabella, posing in Maris' studio at 498

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinseng ...

, Amsterdam. She is sitting in a wooden cushioned armchair, with

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

heads carved into the armrests. The subject is holding a fan in her right hand, and her left hand is touching the fan's golden

tassel A tassel is a finishing feature in fabric and clothing decoration. It is a universal ornament that is seen in varying versions in many cultures around the globe. History and use In the Hebrew Bible, the Lord spoke to Moses instructing him to ...

. Her left arm is jewelled with a golden

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, ...

and her

ring finger The ring finger, third finger, fourth finger, leech finger, or annulary is the fourth digit of the human hand, located between the middle finger and the little finger. Sometimes the term ring finger only refers to the fourth digit of a left-ha ...

displays a golden

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

. She is wearing a "sumptuous" blue and green

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a one-piece outer garment that is worn on the torso, hangs down over the legs, and is primarily worn by women or girls. Dresses often consist of a bodice attached to a skirt. Dress shapes, silh ...

, and a white and red

bonnet A bonnet is a variety of headgear, hat or cap. Specific types of headgear referred to as "bonnets" may include Native American *War bonnet, feathered headgear worn as an earned military decoration by high-ranking Plains Indians United King ...

on her head. In the background, a

mirror A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...

can be seen baring her reflection, showcasing the rear of the bonnet and dress.

Other versions

There are multiple renditions of Isabella, also painted by Simon Maris in 1906. The first, titled ''Portrait of Mrs Allwood with a Fan'', is currently held by a private collector and was originally acquired by the De Visscher family of

Zeist Zeist () is the Capital city, capital and largest town of the Zeist (municipality), municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht (province), Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of " ...

in the 1920s. Another version, also titled ''Isabella'', is in the possession of Sally Schuman after her grandmother, Anna Maria Lagaay, received the painting from Maris around 1906. Its current location is unknown. File:Mrs Allwood with a Fan.jpg,

, 1906, ''Mrs Allwood with a Fan'',

oil on canvas Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or copper for several centuries. ...

, 86.5 x 57.5 cm, Private collection. File:Isabella, 1906 Sally Schuman.jpg,

, 1906, ''Isabella'',

, 61 x 43.2 cm, Sally Schuman private collection. File:Isabella, Sally letter.jpg, A card featuring a reproduction of Isabella, sent in a 1907 letter by Simon Maris.

Dispute over naming of artwork

In 2015, the Rijksmuseum announced it would be changing the titles of a number of paintings in its collection, citing racial sensitivity. Among these works was a

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

of a young

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

woman by Simon Maris, titled "Young Negro-Girl", which was retrospectively changed to "Young Woman with a Fan". The project, which expected to change the descriptions or titles of over 220,000 artworks, was the subject of a debate over the importance of preserving historical context versus maximising cultural sensitivity. The subject in the painting had previously been described by the art dealer Jan C. Schuller as "little negress" during an exhibition in 1908. A newspaper at the time described the portrait as "the superbly painted 'Little Negress' of very distinguished colouring and conception and with fine painting of the fabric of the clothes and of the fan." The name of the painting intended by Maris himself was revealed in a 1907 letter, where he labeled the piece "Isabella (negress)",rkd, sm (note 1), Vb4 Copy books of sent letters, inv. no. 0257.63, 1906-1919, 1 vol., p. 38 along with an inscription on an early version of the artwork that titles it as simply "Isabella".Correspondence with Sally Schuman, 4 August 2018, Documentation/object file Rijksmuseum sk-a-2931, no. t5-2m. Due to this discovery, the Rijksmuseum once again renamed the portrait in 2020, from the revised title of "Young Woman with a Fan" to its current name "Isabella".

References

{{reflist 1906 paintings