Artwork Details
- Title
- La France Croisée
- Artist
- Date
- 1914
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 45 3⁄4 x 33 1⁄2 in. (116.2 x 85.0 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of the artist
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Figure female — knee length
- Landscape — coast
- Occupation — medicine — nurse
- Landscape — France
- Object Number
- 1970.69
Artwork Description
In La France Croisée, Brooks voiced her opposition to World War I and raised money for the Red Cross and French relief organizations. Ida Rubinstein was the model for this heroic figure posed in a nurse's uniform, with cross emblazoned against her dark cloak, against a windswept landscape outside the burning city of Ypres. This symbolic portrait of a valiant France was exhibited in 1915 at the Bernheim Gallery in Paris, along with four accompanying sonnets written by Gabriele D'Annunzio. The gallery offered reproductions for sale as a benefit to the Red Cross. For her contributions to the war effort, the French government awarded Brooks the Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1920. This award is visible as the bright red spot on Brooks's lapel in her 1923 Self-Portrait.
The Art of Romaine Brooks, 2016
Works by this artist (47 items)
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La France Croisée
1914, oil on canvas
ROMAINE BROOKS
Born: Rome, Italy 1874– Died: Nice, France 1970
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