Frederic Samuel Cordey

Norbert Goeneutte was a Parisian Impressionist painter who moved in the circle of Renoir and documented Parisian social life with observational skill. This 1885 portrait of Frédéric Samuel Cordey — himself an Impressionist painter and close friend of Renoir — belongs to the practice of artist-portraits within the Impressionist circle, where members painted each other with the same fresh attention they brought to other subjects. Goeneutte brought the Impressionist's direct observation to a subject he knew personally and well. The work is currently unlocated or in private hands.

The portrait of a fellow artist is rendered with Impressionist directness — the face observed without formal academic staging, the sitter's specific character captured through attentive looking. Goeneutte's palette is light and naturalistic in the Impressionist mode. Brushwork is varied and responsive to the sitter's specific quality.