DOI issue:
No. 165 (December, 1906)
DOI article:Khnopff, Fernand: The art of the late Alfred Stevens, Belgian painter
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20716#0235
Alfred Stevens, Belgian Painter
Paris. This canvas was bought by the French gamuts of harmony. Another young girl admires
Government, and presented to the Musee of Mar- Ulnde a Paris — a little elephant of precious
seilles. In the same Salon he had also Le materials. Another hangs a branch of box over
Dkouragement de VArtiste, and a scene studied a portrait. Another reads a letter which brings
from nature—the spectacle of a man found assas- her Une douloureuse Certitude. Another looks
sinated at Montmartre, painted in the historical out of the window to see whether Le Temps in-
style, according to advice given the young master certain will prevent her from going out. Another
by Troyon. This painting won him the first . . . but you see very well that what they are doing
medal. In 1855 he obtained another medal at is a matter of indifference. They are living the
the Exposition Universelle for the picture named lives of 'women of quality.' The insignificance
Chez Soi; and in the same year, at the Antwerp of the 'subject' in these pictures by Alfred Stevens
Exhibition, he was given the cross of the Order of possesses therefore its own significance, perfectly
Leopold—thanks to the influence of Henry Leys, expressing the ways of aristocratic society—even
Two years later La Consolation
won such admiration in the Paris
Salon that Gustave Planche, the
famous critic of "La Presse,"
would not deign to bestow a
word on anyone save Alfred
Stevens and Gustave Courbet.
At the Paris Exposition Uni-
verselle of 1867 Alfred Stevens
triumphed afresh; he exhibited
eighteen works—marvels that
in his " Salons" Thore Burger
qualified in these terms: "The
Dame en Rose . . . shines amid
the elegant company like the
finest flower in the centre of a
fresh bouquet. This painting,
and some others by M. Alfred
Stevens, exhale a sort of per-
fume. There is certainly much
analogy between colours and
odours. The Dame en Rose
smells a little of the camellia.
The young woman in pale
lemon-colour smells of amber.
... In Tons les Bonheurs a
beautiful woman in garnet-
coloured velvet is suckling her
child. After the pink lady and
the lemon-yellow lady, one of
the most fascinating is the pearl-
coloured lady. She stands in
profile beside a table, upon
which is a vase of Fleurs d'Au-
tomne: she has flaxen hair, and
a black mantilla over her dress,
flat grey in tone. All in a minor
key, as we should say in music;
all ' broken,' as we may say in
painting. The great colourist
- ° a "LA VISITE MATINALE". BY ALFRED STEVENS
Velazquez played on such f/« A. Sal-ens' Collection. Photo. P. Becker, Brussels)
2I5
Paris. This canvas was bought by the French gamuts of harmony. Another young girl admires
Government, and presented to the Musee of Mar- Ulnde a Paris — a little elephant of precious
seilles. In the same Salon he had also Le materials. Another hangs a branch of box over
Dkouragement de VArtiste, and a scene studied a portrait. Another reads a letter which brings
from nature—the spectacle of a man found assas- her Une douloureuse Certitude. Another looks
sinated at Montmartre, painted in the historical out of the window to see whether Le Temps in-
style, according to advice given the young master certain will prevent her from going out. Another
by Troyon. This painting won him the first . . . but you see very well that what they are doing
medal. In 1855 he obtained another medal at is a matter of indifference. They are living the
the Exposition Universelle for the picture named lives of 'women of quality.' The insignificance
Chez Soi; and in the same year, at the Antwerp of the 'subject' in these pictures by Alfred Stevens
Exhibition, he was given the cross of the Order of possesses therefore its own significance, perfectly
Leopold—thanks to the influence of Henry Leys, expressing the ways of aristocratic society—even
Two years later La Consolation
won such admiration in the Paris
Salon that Gustave Planche, the
famous critic of "La Presse,"
would not deign to bestow a
word on anyone save Alfred
Stevens and Gustave Courbet.
At the Paris Exposition Uni-
verselle of 1867 Alfred Stevens
triumphed afresh; he exhibited
eighteen works—marvels that
in his " Salons" Thore Burger
qualified in these terms: "The
Dame en Rose . . . shines amid
the elegant company like the
finest flower in the centre of a
fresh bouquet. This painting,
and some others by M. Alfred
Stevens, exhale a sort of per-
fume. There is certainly much
analogy between colours and
odours. The Dame en Rose
smells a little of the camellia.
The young woman in pale
lemon-colour smells of amber.
... In Tons les Bonheurs a
beautiful woman in garnet-
coloured velvet is suckling her
child. After the pink lady and
the lemon-yellow lady, one of
the most fascinating is the pearl-
coloured lady. She stands in
profile beside a table, upon
which is a vase of Fleurs d'Au-
tomne: she has flaxen hair, and
a black mantilla over her dress,
flat grey in tone. All in a minor
key, as we should say in music;
all ' broken,' as we may say in
painting. The great colourist
- ° a "LA VISITE MATINALE". BY ALFRED STEVENS
Velazquez played on such f/« A. Sal-ens' Collection. Photo. P. Becker, Brussels)
2I5