Jean GEOFFROY dit GEO (Marennes 1853 - Paris 1924) - Lot 36

Jean GEOFFROY dit GEO (Marennes 1853 - Paris 1924) Portrait of a Woman, 1912 Oil on canvas signed, dated and dedicated to Mme Variot H_46 ; W_38 cm This painting is a study for a portrait of a battered young mother handing over her newborn baby to the hospice for assisted children. A law passed in June 1904 structured the reception of needy children by the Assistance Publique. This service takes in orphans, abandoned or temporarily admitted children. Géo seized on this theme of child abandonment to paint his most dramatic work in 1912. Our study is a portrait of the mother, her green eyes reddened with tears as she abandons her child to the hospice worker and nanny, giving him one last look. Bibliography: Dominique LOBSTEIN, Jean Geoffroy dit Géo 1853-1924, Une œuvre de généreuse humanité, Éditions du Croit Vif, Saintes, 2015, p. 124