Alfred Stevens: A Sea of Possibilities

"La Villa des Falaises a Sainte Adresse" by Alfred Stevens

"Two events happened in 1880. Firstly, the Paris authorities made a compulsory purchase of Alfred Stevens' house and demolished it to make a new road and passageway, which they named after the artist. He was compensated a handsome 300,000 francs for it.

Secondly, Stevens had developed bronchial problems and on the advice of his doctor went to the seaside for some fresh air, instead of breathing in the turpentine fumes of the studio. He went to Sainte Adresse for two months and took to painting the sea. The great dealer, Georges Petit, must have felt that an artist as good as Stevens could paint anything he chose to paint and duly made a contract with him to take everything he painted in the two-month stay for 50,000 francs! It was a bold decision but a sound one because it would allow people without the resources of a Vanderbilt to own a good painting with a famous signature.

Stevens embraced 'La Mer' as readily as he had 'La Femme.' It was another inexhaustible theme - the sea and shore from calm to storm, with or without beaches, bathers, headlands, fishermen and seagulls. To a painter of cashmere shawls and undulating silk fabrics, Stevens was acutely aware of every nuance of colour, sea, sky and shore presented him with. 

Of course, he soon realized the potential of combining his two subjects. We find ladies at the beach and, often, single figures standing at the water's edge looking with longing to the return of a vessel bearing their loved one. This entire theme culminated in a masterpiece, some consider his last, 'La Villa des Falaises a Sainte Adresse.' The painting was done to order for the Belgian art dealer and collector, Francois van der Donckt, whom Stevens had known since 1866 and who had acquired numerous paintings by him throughout his life. It had to meet specific requirements regarding content which, it is recorded, tested Stevens' abilities to the limit. It contained twelve figures - and two dogs. Towards the end of October, the autumn weather and the sudden absence of any suitable models meant that he had to complete the picture back in Paris. Even so the outcome was a painting that would have struck its new owners as pleasingly modern and, at the same time, wholly in keeping with a rich tradition in French art, that of outdoor scenes of recreation."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell and the Sotheby's catalogue note for "La Villa des Falaises a Sainte Adress.")