Charles in a Striped Jersey

Charles in a Striped Jersey from 1898 is one of Evenepoel's most recognizable works—a portrait of his son Charles, who was born to Evenepoel and his companion Louise de Millecamps. The fact of Evenepoel having a child outside formal marriage was not unusual in bohemian Paris, but it gives this painting particular biographical weight: it is a father's portrait of his son, made in the year before the father's death. Charles would grow up without his father's presence, and the painting—preserved in the Heritage Fund—carries this poignant dimension for viewers who know its context. The striped jersey itself is a period detail, the kind of characteristic child's garment that grounds the work in the late 1890s. Evenepoel's portrayal is neither sentimental nor idealized: Charles is observed with the same directness Evenepoel brought to all his subjects. The work is considered among his finest achievements in intimate portraiture.

The striped jersey offers Evenepoel a compositional element with built-in rhythm: the alternating stripes provide a geometric counterpoint to the organic forms of the child's face and body. His paint handling in the jersey would exploit this pattern structure, while the face receives the sustained observation of personal portraiture.