Alfred Stevens (1823 - 1906) - Marine, Le Tréport, 1890

Oil on panel
Signed, dated 90 and located "Tréport" lower left.
Dimensions: 41 x 31.5 cm,
With frame: 67 x 57 cm

By a delicate and sensitive work on the light and with a removed and free touch, Alfred Stevens delivers us here a luminous navy. Twilight pink appears in the sky. The light shimmers the sea which is adorned with pink and silver reflections. Thanks to the finesse and mastery of his trade, one can feel the lapping of the waves in the foreground. A more detailed sailboat occupies the center of the composition. A few veils in the background are indicated with a brushstroke.

In 1880, the painter experienced difficulties; the beginnings of a new style of painting, Impressionism, challenged his pictorial approach. His doctor sends him to Menton, he travels in the north of France. Berthe Morisot pushes him towards Impressionism which he adopts in his seascapes, whose sensitivity and modernity are in every respect similar to those of Jongkind. Alfred Stevens paints this picture at this time of pictorial upheavals.

Son of an art dealer, A Stevens was trained in Brussels by JF Navez and C. Roqueplan in Paris. He will exhibit in Brussels and Paris where he will stay very often. He was celebrated as the painter of women, earning him the title of "French Gerard Terborch" in tribute to his talent for rendering details and sumptuous fabrics, but he also painted seascapes and coastal scenes in a more free, almost impressionist close to Eugène Boudin and JB Jongkind. His painting is clear and luminous, his dough quite nourished. He was the friend of the impressionists especially of Manet and Berthe Morisot. In 1886 he wrote the famous Impressions sur la peinture, the book was a great success and was translated into several languages.

Bibliography: • Alfred Stevens, Impressions on painting, Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles, 1883, 96 pages. .•“Le Monde illustré”, August 18, 1883, p. 1-3.

Museums: In Paris: . Orsay Museum, . Louvre Museum Graphic Arts department. In provinces: . Lille Museum of Fine Arts. . Rouen Museum of Fine Arts. . Reims Museum of Fine Arts. . National Museum of Compiègne Castle. . Magnin National Museum in Dijon. . Museum of Fine Arts of Marseilles. . Fabre Museum in Montpellier. Abroad: .Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium exhibition “Alfred Stevens” from 8.05 to 30. 08. 2009 .New York, Metropolitan Museum