Guy Pène Du Bois

According to Pene du Bois scholar Betsy Fahlman, the present work depicts the artist's daughter, Yvonne. Recognizable by her dark hair and fashionable mode of dress, Yvonne was one of her father's favorite subjects and appears frequently in his paintings. An artist herself, Yvonne is illustrated in a gallery setting to signify her status as a painter in her own right. Pene du Bois often produced interior scenes such as this one - experimenting with courtrooms, theaters, and cocktail parties as subject matter. The title, The Tricorne Hat, refers to the style of hat worn by Yvonne which first gained popularity in the eighteenth century. Since the artist illustrated numerous paintings of Yvonne, the title also intended to differentiate this work from other representations of the young woman. Yvonne and her father maintained a close relationship until his death in 1956, and this is one of only a handful of major paintings completed by Pene du Bois in the 1950s.