La France Croisée

Romaine Brooks, La France Croisée, 1914, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1970.69
Copied Romaine Brooks, La France Croisée, 1914, oil on canvas, 45 3433 12 in. (116.285.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1970.69

Artwork Details

Title
La France Croisée
Date
1914
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
45 3433 12 in. (116.285.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — France
  • Occupation — medicine — nurse
  • Landscape — coast
  • Figure female — knee length
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

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This poem by Gabriele d'Annunzio accompanied La France Croisée when Romaine Brooks first exhibited the painting in the window of a Paris gallery. Brooks painted a windswept female figure as a crusader and the personification of France. She based the woman's strong features on those of the actress Ida Rubinstein, with whom she was in love at the time. The figure's chiseled features and stern gaze set against the backdrop of a burning city evoke a sense of defiance and strength. The city represents Ypres in western Belgium, the site of a major battle during the first year of World War I. The emblem on Rubinstein's shoulder evokes the bloodshed of war, but the brilliant red may also signal the painter's passion for the actress. Reproductions of this painting, together with the poem, were later sold to raise money for the Red Cross, and Brooks received the Cross of the Legion of Honor for her service to France.

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