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In Memoriam
Alfred Stevens (Belgian (worked in France), 1823–1906)
about 1861
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
Overall: 55.2 x 44.5cm (21 3/4 x 17 1/2in.)
Other (Framed): 74.3 x 8.3 x 87.6cm (29 1/4 x 3 1/4 x 34 1/2in.)
Other (Framed): 74.3 x 8.3 x 87.6cm (29 1/4 x 3 1/4 x 34 1/2in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow
Accession Number23.491
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Born in Belgium, Alfred Stevens made his name after moving to Paris, where he was a friend of Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas. Stevens became famous for his depictions of modern life as embodied in Parisian women. His painting of a young woman in a black mourning dress, lighting a votive candle, may represent an elegant widow. Stevens made a specialty of painting women of fashion, but in early works such as this one, he also sought to respond to the Realists' call to show a wide variety of aspects of modern life.
InscriptionsLower right: Alfred Stevens
ProvenanceErnest Wadsworth Longfellow (b. 1845 - d. 1921), Boston; 1923, bequeathed by Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 1, 1923)