![]() There is a parrot, which signifies the act of imitation-just as the bird mimics human speech, so the artist imitates (or "mirrors") life. The artist's presence is implied by his cigarette butt, ash, and extinguished match on the floor (Stevens was a heavy smoker). In the painting, in a witty transposition, Stevens’ model takes a break from posing and peeks around the psyché that stands in for the canvas on an easel. The title of the painting, however, also refers through the furtive glance of the young woman to the myth of Psyche, who was forbidden to look at her beloved Amor, but secretly could not resist. Such a large mirror, wherein one can see oneself fully, is a piece of furniture typical of the second half of the nineteenth century and, as mentioned, it was also called psyché. She is half hidden behind a mirror, through which she looks at the viewer directly in the eye. La Psyché shows a young model in Stevens' Parisian studio during a break. Theme and interpretation ĭetail, Psyche stares directly at the viewer through the mirror La Psyché is one of the first works by Stevens in which these two aspects coincide. On the other hand, the emerging Impressionism began to influence Stevens around 1870, which manifested itself in a looser brushwork. However, his works are distinguished by his emphasis on the casual, transitory moment, anticipating Impressionism. He made a name for himself as the upper class' ladies painter and painted in a highly realistic style, deeply influenced by the Dutch fine painters and Old Masters, particularly Johannes Vermeer. In the years between 18, Stevens was pre-eminently regarded as a painter of the Parisian establishment. On a chair are Japanese prints, reminders of the artist's great passion: with his friends the Goncourt Brothers, Bracquemond, and Whistler, Stevens was one of the earliest collectors of Japanese art in Paris.Īmong the small paintings on the wall is a sketch for his Salon picture What They Call Vagrancy (1854 Musée d’Orsay), a picture of social protest. The backs of canvases and portfolios of prints or drawings represent some of Stevens's working materials. Nearby struts a small parrot, a reference to art's mimetic function. The artist hints at his own presence with the cigarette butt, ash, and match in the lower right corner. Focus instead is on the model, who may have interrupted her posing session to peer around the edge of the mirror, which reflects her head and hand. Ī cloth partially covers the mirror, hiding the reflections of the studio. Yet this is not an actual psyché but an easel with a mirror where the canvas would normally sit, an analogue to a psyché suggesting that art is a reflection of life. A full-length mirror with chassis was invented in the late eighteenth century and took its name, psyché, from the aforementioned legend of Cupid and Psyche, a story that thematizes looking. The painting's title alludes to multiple things, most notably the myth of Psyche and Cupid and the type of large mirror depicted on the left. ![]() This painting, which once belonged to the poet Robert de Montesquiou, is one of several by Stevens of his studio with a model and sometimes the artist. He was deeply influenced by Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch and often painted on wood panel. During the Second Empire (1852–70), he pioneered and perfected the domestic interior scene, which the Impressionists then adopted. Trained in Brussels, Stevens finished his studies in Paris and made his career there. In this painting, Psyche looks both into the mirror and, via the latter, at the viewer.īackground and description Detail of parrot, cigarette butt, ash, and extinguished match The young woman, like Psyche to Cupid in the ancient tale, peers stealthily around the edge of the mirror to the viewer. Here, however, the psyché is placed on an easel, where a canvas is supposed to sit. ![]() The French word psyché (meaning, as in English, both "the mind" and the ancient goddess beloved of Cupid) also designates a full-length mirror, invented in the late eighteenth century, that can be moved up and down or tilted on its chassis. The Psyché is noted for its realism, witticism, and allegory, three dimensions generally perceived sequentially herein. Painted in circa 1871, the painting once belonged to Robert de Montesquiou, and is currently housed at the Princeton University Art Museum located in Princeton, New Jersey. The Psyché (My Studio) is an oil on panel painting by the Belgian artist Alfred Stevens. Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey Painting by Alfred Stevens The Psyché (My Studio)
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