Augusta Rathbone with Roman Nose

Jean Georges Cornélius

In1921 the American printmaker and painter Augusta Rathbone was a student at Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in France; it is likely she arrived there in 1920, and at some point she and the French painter and printmaker Jean Georges Cornelius crossed paths in Cornelius’ homeland, Brittany. He painted this portrait of Rathbone bordered by a wall of climbing roses, illuminated by a sliver of sunlight coming through the leaves and falling on the lapel of her daysuit. The two artists would spend several years in one another’s countries as students and exhibiting artists.