Alexandre Cabanel
George A. Lucas (1824-1909)
1872
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 21 3/4 x 18 in. (55.2 x 45.7 cm.)
Credit Line
The George A. Lucas Collection, purchased with funds from the State of Maryland, Laurence and Stella Bendann Fund, and contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations throughout the Baltimore community
Object Number
1996.45.50
This sensitive portrait was painted in the summer of 1873. In his Diary on June 8th, the Baltimore collector George A. Lucas recorded that he had spent the day at Cabanel’s studio sitting for this portrait, which was completed four months later. Cabanel began his career as a painter of anecdotal literary and historical subjects. In 1867, he began work primarily as a portraitist of the Parisian upper class.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1996; The Maryland Institute College of Art, through Henry Walters, Baltimore, by bequest 1909; from George A. Lucas, Paris
The Maryland Institute, Baltimore, "Exhibition of the George A. Lucas Art Collection," 1911.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection of The Maryland Institute", October 12-November 21, 1965.
Fred Parker, Memorial Student Union University of California, Davis, CA, "France in the 1860's: The World of the Young Impressionists", May 5-June 14, 1969.
The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, "A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, Art Agent 1860-1909", January 28-March 11, 1979.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection: Maryland's Treasure", circulated to Government House, Annapolis, January 6-April 21,1997.
Stephen Edidin, Dahesh Museum, New York, "Training an Artist: Alexandre Cabanel and the Academic Process in 19th-Century France", March 10-June 13, 1998.
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art", October 1-December 31, 2006.
Michel Hilaire and Sylvain Amic, Musée Fabre de Montpellier, "Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), La tradition du beau", July 10-December 5, 2010; Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud de Cologne, February 4-May 15, 2011.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection of The Maryland Institute", October 12-November 21, 1965.
Fred Parker, Memorial Student Union University of California, Davis, CA, "France in the 1860's: The World of the Young Impressionists", May 5-June 14, 1969.
The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, "A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, Art Agent 1860-1909", January 28-March 11, 1979.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection: Maryland's Treasure", circulated to Government House, Annapolis, January 6-April 21,1997.
Stephen Edidin, Dahesh Museum, New York, "Training an Artist: Alexandre Cabanel and the Academic Process in 19th-Century France", March 10-June 13, 1998.
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A View Toward Paris: The Lucas Collection of 19th-Century French Art", October 1-December 31, 2006.
Michel Hilaire and Sylvain Amic, Musée Fabre de Montpellier, "Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), La tradition du beau", July 10-December 5, 2010; Wallraf-Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud de Cologne, February 4-May 15, 2011.
"Exhibition of the George A. Lucas Art Collection," Baltimore: The Maryland Institute, 1911, no. 33, ill. (frontispiece).
"The George A. Lucas Collection of The Maryland Institute," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1965, no. 50, ill. (frontispiece).
Stephen Edidin, "Training an Artist: Alexandre Cabanel and the Academic Process in 19th Century France, NY: Dahesh Museum, 1998, no. 13. (exh. brochure)
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "BMA Today," March/April 2003, p.6, ill.
Michel Hilaire and Sylvain Amic, "Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), La tradition du beau," Paris, France: Somogy éditions d'art, 2010, p. 348, ill.
Andreas Blühm, "Alexandre Cabanel, The Tradition of Beauty," Cologne: Hirmer Verlag, 2011, p. 75, ill.
Inscribed: FACE: u/r corner ALEX.CABANEL 1873 (gold paint)
