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At the Fountain
Pierre Cécile Puvis de Chavannes (French, 1824–1898)
about 1869
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
181.6 x 120.0 cm (71 1/2 x 47 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Robert Dawson Evans Collection
Accession Number17.3228
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Puvis de Chavannes was widely known for his large-scale murals on classical themes, which decorated public buildings throughout France. He frequently produced smaller-scale "reductions" such as "At the Fountain," which is based on a mural at the museum in Amiens. As a result of his international fame, Puvis was commissioned in 1891 to decorate the main stairwell of the recently completed Boston Public Library in Copley Square.
InscriptionsLower left: P. Puvis de Chavannes
ProvenanceBy 1894, Durand-Ruel, New York; 1895, sold by Durand-Ruel to Mrs. Samuel Dennis Warren (Susan Cornelia Clarke Warren) (b. 1825 - d. 1901), Boston [see note 1]; January 8, 1903, Warren sale, American Art Galleries, New York, no. 121, to Robert Dawson Evans (b. 1843 - d. 1909) and his wife, Maria Antoinette Hunt Evans (b. 1845 - d. 1917), Boston; 1917, bequest of Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 1, 1917)
NOTES:
[1] Lent by Mrs. Warren in 1895 to the MFA for an exhibition featuring the work of Puvis de Chavannes, no. 5.
NOTES:
[1] Lent by Mrs. Warren in 1895 to the MFA for an exhibition featuring the work of Puvis de Chavannes, no. 5.