Kees van Dongen was a Dutch-French artist known for his vibrant paintings and prints of almond-eyed women and bourgeois leisure scenes. Some of the painter’s most famous works depict fashionable celebrities, including the French actress Brigitte Bardot. “The essential thing is to elongate the women, especially to make them slim,” he said of his models. “After that, you just need to make their jewellery bigger.” 

Van Dongen’s use of colour and expressive line became integral to his style. In 1926, the artist was inducted into the French Legion of Honour, and, in 1927, awarded the Order of the Crown of Belgium.