Alfred Stevens

Girl Holding a Nosegay

1869-1884

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Alfred Stevens

Girl Holding a Nosegay

Alfred Stevens

Girl Holding a Nosegay

1869-1884

Physical Qualities Oil on wood panel, 12-7/8 x 9-1/4 in. (30.7 x 23.5 cm.); Frame: 18-3/4 x 14-5/8 x 1-3/4 in. (46.7 x 37.2 x 4.4 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 1996.45.253

A young woman holding a small bunch of flowers gazes somewhat pensively away from the viewer. This may be the work referred to by Lucas in a Diary entry for September 11, 1880 in which he noted that the dealer, P.L. Everard had brought him “a head by Stevens.” After training in his native Brussels, and in Paris, Stevens settled in the French capital where he befriended some of the most progressive artists of his era, including Édouard Manet and several of the Impressionists. Although he painted a small number of landscapes and views of the Normandy coast, he specialized in images of fashionably dressed women in well-appointed interiors, often engaged in genteel pursuits.

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, cat. #14.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840 - 1940", June 6-September 1, 1941. p. 46.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The George A. Lucas Collection of the Maryland Institute", October 12-November 11, 1965, cat. #255.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Nineteenth Century European Painting", June 24-September 7, 1969.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Lucas Collection", June 27-Fall 1974, cat. #255.

University of Michigan Museum of Art, "The Paintings of Alfred Stevens", Sept. 9 - Oct.16, 1977; Circ. to Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, November 20, 1977-January 1, 1978; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, February 2-March 19, 1978.

Inscribed: FACE: TR, signed, 'AS.' (A and S superimposed). VERSO, FRAME: UL, 'BMA cat./1965/#255'; UR, '(BMA) 101 West Monument Street...To: Maryland Institute...'; T of L, (masking tape), '14'; UC, mostly torn label, 'Succssion G.A. Lucas...'; UR, BMA label; L at T, (printed label), '13'. VERSO, PAINTING: CR, 'Musée de Beaux Arts de Montréal/Montreal Museum of Fine Arts...'; UL, (masking tape), '14'; UC, (remainder of label), 'Pottier/Succession...' with '99'; UC, (black paint), '14-1'; UC, (stamped), '...163'; UC, (handwritten label), '42'; C, (printed label), 'STEVENS (Alfred)...Paris/...(medals)...'; C, (printed article), 'DEATH OF ALFRED STEVENS.../...famous French/painter.../...Five/years ago he fell.../...was seventy-eight/years of age.../was by birth a Bel/gian...born at Brussels/May 11, 1828...'; L and R, (printed article), 2 columns; BC, printed article; BL and BR, printed article in two parts