Alfred Stevens: Finding His Subject

"The Morning of Ash Wednesday" by Alfred Stevens

"In 1844 Alfred Stevens left for Paris in the care of a family friend, the painter Camille Roqueplan. Poor health obliged Roqueplan to go to the South of France and Stevens supposedly entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the only pupil of Roqueplan's to be admitted.

Five years later found him sharing a studio with another Belgian born painter, Florent Willems, well established in Paris. On Stevens' debut at the Paris Salon in 1853, he showed three paintings, one of which was 'The Morning of Ash Wednesday.' What impressed the Jury was that the debutant's canvas was well painted. The Jury consisted of painters and they best understood the soundness of his technique. It has been constantly repeated that Stevens was a painter's painter and, indeed he was. Thus 'Ash Wednesday' won official blessing and was bought by the Government for the Marseilles Museum and Stevens won a third class medal - the first of a chestful. In 1854-55, he exhibited three paintings in Brussels and Antwerp whose titles tell us that it was a turning point in the search for his true subject. 

At the Paris Salon of 1855, he showed a socio-realism scene where French soldiers were rounding up vagabonds in the Bois de Boulogne. The Emperor saw it and was annoyed that his soldiers were being used in such menial tasks and ordered it to be stopped. At least he became aware of Alfred Stevens, if he did not know his work already.

"The Visit" by Alfred Stevens

In 1857 he finally found his subject - in a word 'La Femme [Women].' A painting entitled 'La Visite', the first of many, many variations of this very adaptable subject down through his career. Another the 'Artist in His Studio' of 1855 was also a break-through and the first of a series of very important works where the studio is the setting and Stevens could either depict himself as here, or not, and vary the quantity of ladies, whether models or visitors."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell.)