Both the portraitist and the sitter were children of renowned artists who were not French (Raimundo de Madrazo and Charles Chaplin) yet had succeeded in Paris. Both were also disciples of Léon Bonnat (1824-1923) who in turn had trained with José Madrazo (1781-1859) and Federico Madrazo (1815-1894), great-grandfather and grandfather, respectively, of the painter. A member of the fourth generation of this family of artists, Cocó, like his father and grandfather, had plenty of talent, although he did not exert it with the same consistency, devoting himself to worldly portraits, which he practised with great elegance and fluidity.

The execution and the colour of this piece bring to mind the style of Raimundo de Madrazo (1841-1920), father of the artist, but also, in the liveliness and elegance of the figure, the work of the Italian painter Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931). Aware of the quality of this portrait, its author presented it to the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts the very year it was made.

It is a portrait of his French friend, the flower painter Arthur-Charles-Georges Chaplin (1869-1935), made in the style of the 18th century. Portrayed in half-length, with a trompe-l’oeil effect the figure seems to project outwards from an oval frame, on which we see the signature and the date the painting was made. Wearing a painter’s smock, he engages the spectator with his inquisitive stance and gaze, as his left hand holds his brushes and palette. In the background we see the flower painting he is working on. Also noteworthy is the white tulip, which, like the figure, seems to project out of the tondo framing him.