{geni:about_me} Albert Roelofs, son of the famous Hague School painter Willem Roelofs, has benefitted from an upbringing in two countries: Holland and Belgium. He received his artistic training both in The Hague and in Brussels, as such undergoing artistic influences from two different schools. The Dutch critic Albert Plasschaert noted the influence of Belgian artists like Alfred Stevens, Dutch artists working in Brussels like David Oyens and the Italian painter Antonio Mancini. The absorption of their style turned Roelofs into quite a solitary figure in the Dutch art world. His approach to women, who formed the main subject in his work, was quite different from his Dutch contemporaries, like I. Israels and G.H. Breitner. He was not so much interested in the colourfull and dynamic streetlife but in the more contemplative world indoors.

In 1900 Roelofs married his fellow art student Tjieke Bleckmann. The couple set up a happy and prosperous household in The Hague, with the young mother Tjieke often modelling for her husband. Both Roelofs and his wife loved dressing up in extravagant costumes and dresses for the frequent parties at Pulchri Studio. The black and white dress in the present lot is an excellent example of their love for striking patterns and luxurious fabrics. It must have been a favourite dress at the time, as it appears more than once in Roelofs' work: Tjieke herself can be seen wearing it in the painting Atelierjool from 1906 (Juffermans, op.cit., no. 49; the painting showed the artist's brother andTjieke enjoying the success of another painting sold); it is shown in the painting muziekuurtje from 1907 (Juffermans, no. 46) and in the Portrait of a lady from 1907.

In the period that the present lot was painted, the artist enjoyed fame and fortune. There was a constant demand for his work and he received favourable reviews. The artist's confidence in the future is tangible in the present lot: in their rich dresses the young ladies dreamily but assuredly contemplate the future.