The Girl in the Green Sari

Clara Klinghoffer was noted for her sensitivity and skill as a portraitist and in her youth her work was often likened to that of the old masters. One critic remarked, ‘Her portraits have a soft focus, but what inner life!’. In this portrait with its fine modeling and shimmering palette, the sitter’s demure character and gentle beauty are captured with a subtle delicacy offset by her exotic dress. Dated 1926, the year of Klinghoffer’s marriage to Joseph Stoppelman, this painting was probably executed during their ten-month honeymoon on the French Riviera.