This oil painting, likely dating back to 1930 and acquired into the collection in 1975, is part of a series of portraits that established Grounauer as a specialist in the genre. Hailing from Geneva, he attended the Académie du Loup in Lausanne and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Geneva. After traveling throughout France, Italy and Belgium, he settled in Le Locle, initially painting canvases inspired by the world of labor, before devoting himself to a career as a portraitist and landscape painter. This interior scene brims with mystery, featuring two preoccupied women whose identities remain unknown. One woman is reading a letter, while the other, in the foreground, appears partially undressed and exudes a sense of melancholy, as if the contents of the letter were taking her to a disquieting place. The painting invites the viewer to ponder the contents of the letter and its impact, as well as contemplate the relationship between the two women.
This work was shown at MBAL as part of the exhibition Le plaisir du texte (2023).
Oil on canvas, inv. 1693
