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“L’Enfant de Paris” (Portrait of Dolly Davis) by Jacqueline Marval (French) – Oil on canvas / 1926 – Milwaukee Art Museum (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) #WomenInArt #JacquelineMarval #DollyDavis #MilwaukeeArtMuseum #art #artText #arte #WomensArt #WomanArtist #FrenchArt #FrenchArtist #1920sArt #WomenArtists
“L’Enfant de Paris” depicts French actress Dolly Davis (born Julienne Alexandrine David in Paris in 1896). By the mid-1920s, she was a familiar presence in French silent cinema, appearing in films including “Paris,” “The Imaginary Voyage,” and “Paris in Five Days.” French artist Jacqueline Marval also painted Davis in earlier works like “La Clownesse” and “La Figurante” which suggests an ongoing artistic interest in Davis. Marval places Dolly Davis at the center of a light-filled Parisian scene, seated on a tall pale chair beside a balcony railing. Davis wears a loose pink garment that falls softly around her body, while her short waved hair, red lips, and carefully defined face stand out against the surrounding pastels. Her hands rest in her lap and her legs angle toward the lower right. Behind her, the city dissolves into pale blues, violets, creams, and flashes of yellow. Railings, distant architecture, trees, and tiny figures become part of a decorative rhythm of broken brushwork and color. Born Marie-Joséphine Vallet near Grenoble, the artist formed the moniker “Marval” from her own name and moved to Paris, where she first exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in 1901. Ambroise Vollard bought ten paintings from that debut, and she soon exhibited with legends Henri Matisse and Albert Marquet at Berthe Weill’s gallery. By the 1920s, she was an established artist with an international exhibition record, although she has often been overlooked in the story of modern French painting. This portrait brings together two 1920s women whose careers depended on visibility: one before the movie camera and the other with the art exhibition public. Marval does not turn Davis into a theatrical character. Instead, the actress appears composed and self-possessed, surrounded by a city rendered almost as atmosphere. The title “L’Enfant de Paris” ties her to the city of her birth, while the airy color, relaxed setting, and steady gaze give her a distinctly modern presence.
October 21, 2026 at 6:33 PM