The Three Sisters

Today we start our special month with the Advancing Women Artist Foundation—for the next four Sundays we will be presenting pieces that the foundation has restored in Florence. Advancing Women Artists Foundation is an American not-for-profit that is committed to identifying, restoring, and exhibiting artwork by women in storage in Florence’s museums. You can find more about their cause here. :)

The Three Sisters (dated 1912) depicts Elisabeth Chaplin and her two sisters, Nenette and Yvette, in an evening scene. Along with a number of other works by Chaplin, the painting series received the Gold Medal during a Florentine exhibit, as well as ample acclaim from critics for Elisabeth, who was just 20-years-old.

As a child Elisabeth moved to Tuscany where she taught herself to paint by copying from classic works at the Uffizi Gallery. In 1916 her family moved to Rome where she met Paul-Albert Besnard, a French painter and printmaker who would become one of her mentors. The artist’s work often features colorful family scenes and portraiture.

She exhibited widely in Italy before moving to Paris in the late 1930s, where she created large-scale public works at Notre-Dame du Salut and Saint Esprit and was awarded the French Republic’s Legion of Honor. Later in life, the artist settled in Florence and was honored with shows in Florence’s most prestigious venues, such as Palazzo Strozzi and a posthumous exhibition in Palazzo Vecchio.

The Three Sisters was restored by Advancing Women Artists led by the Modern Art Gallery’s director Dr. Simonella Condemi and vice director Alessandra Griffo and was carried out by Florentine restoration artist Rossella Lari.