On view
William R. Elfers Gallery
The Psyché (My Studio),
ca. 1871
Interrupting her modeling session, a woman peers around a full-length mirror known as a psyché. Placed on an easel, the mirror stands in for a canvas and reflects the model’s face and hand, playfully suggesting art’s function as a mirror of nature. In the lower-right corner, a parrot similarly signifies the act of imitation: just as the bird mimics human speech, the artist imitates, or “mirrors,” life.
The artist’s presence in the studio is implied by the cigarette butt, ash, and spent match on the floor. Some of the framed paintings on the wall are identifiable works by Stevens; the backs of canvases and portfolios, including one of Japanese prints, are some of his materials and sources. In Paris, Stevens was an early collector of Japanese art, which became increasingly available after US naval officer Matthew C. Perry’s campaign of gunboat diplomacy forcibly opened Japan to international trade in 1854.
More Context
Trained in Brussels, Stevens finished his studies in Paris and made his career there. During the Second Empire (1852–70), he pioneered and perfected the domestic interior scene, which the Impressionists then adopted. He was inspired by Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch and often painted on wood panel. This painting, which once belonged to the poet Robert de Montesquiou, is one of several by Stevens of his studio with a model and sometimes the artist; its title refers to the mirror at the left. A full-length mirror with chassis was invented in the late eighteenth century and took its name, <em>psyché</em>, from the legend of Cupid and Psyche, a story that thematizes looking. Yet this is not an actual <em>psyché</em> but an easel with a mirror where the canvas would normally be, an analogue to a <em>psyché</em> suggesting that art is a reflection of life. A cloth partially covers the mirror, hiding the reflections of the studio. Focus instead is on the model, who may have interrupted her posing session to peer around the edge of the mirror, which reflects her head and hand. The artist hints at his own presence with the cigarette butt, ash, and match in the lower right corner. Nearby struts a small parrot, seemingly a reference to art’s mimetic function. The backs of canvases and portfolios of prints or drawings represent some of Stevens’s working materials. On a chair are Japanese prints, reminders of his love of objects and collecting; with his friends the Goncourt Brothers, Bracquemond, and Whistler, he was one of the earliest collectors of Japanese art in Paris. Among the small paintings on the wall is a sketch for his Salon picture <em>What They Call Vagrancy</em> (1854; Musée d’Orsay), a picture of social protest.
More About This Object
Information
ca. 1871
Charles Sedelmeyer (1837-1925), by 1872-May 2, 1877 [1]
Sold by Sedelmeyer at Vente Sedelmeyer: Comprenant ses tableaux modernes des ecoles francaise [sic] et etrangeres, joints a ceux des Galeries de San-Donato et de San-Martino, Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 2, 1877, lot 153, as L'atelier de l'artiste [2];
Marie-Joseph-Robert Anatole, Comte de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1855-1921), Neuilly-sur-Seine, by February 1, 1900-at least 1921 [3];
Joseph Breckpot, Brussels, by November 4, 1922 [4];
Cleomir Jussiant (1907-1961), Antwerp, by November 24, 1928-at least February 16, 1975 [5];
Sold at Oude Meesters, Moderne en Hedendaagse Kunst, De Vuyst, Lokeren, Belgium, October 22, 2011, lot 31, as La Psyche (Mon atelier);
Thomas Colville Fine Art, Guilford, Connecticut, and New York, by 2012;
Purchased from Thomas Colville Fine Art from The Princeton University Art Museum, 2012.
NOTES:
[1] The back of the panel bears a stamp: "Collection Sedelmeyer 1872." See Retrospective Alfred Stevens, exh. cat. (Charleroi, Belgium: Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, 1975), cat. 20.
[2] The painting sold for 8700 francs. See "Mouvement des arts: Galerie Sedelmeyer," La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, no. 19 (May 12, 1877): 185.
[3] The painting belonged to the Comte de Montesquiou-Fezensac by the time it was exhibited at the Ecole des beaux-arts (February 6-27, 1900) and remained in his collection until at least 1921, when the Comte referred to La Psyche as "le panneau que je possede" in one of his published works. See Exposition de L'Oeuvre d'Alfred Stevens, Organisee par les Peintres Francais, exh. cat. (Paris: Imprimerie Georges Petit, 1900), 24; and Robert de Montesquiou, Diptyque de Flandres, Triptyche de France (Paris: E. Sansot, 1921), 72. When the Comte passed away on December 11, 1921, the painting likely passed to his estate or was sold by his heirs.
[4] The painting belonged to Joseph Breckpot by the time it was exhibited at the Cercle Artistique et Litteraire (November 4-26, 1922). See Expositon jubilaire, 1847-1922, exh. cat. (Brussels: Cercle Artistique et Litteraire, 1922), 30.
[5] The painting belonged to Cleomir Jussiant by the time it was exhibited at the Musee d'Art Moderne, Brussels (November 24-December 10, 1928). It remained in the Jussiant collection until at least February 16, 1975, when the Stevens retrospective at the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi closed. See Exposition Alfred et Joseph Stevens, exh. cat. (Brussels: Musee d'Art Moderne, 1928), 38; and Retrospective Alfred Stevens, exh. cat. (Charleroi, Belgium: Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, 1975), cat. 20. However, according to genealogical records, Cleomir Jussiant died in 1961, so the painting must have passed to another Jussiant family member.
- Vente Sedelmeyer: Comprenant ses tableaux modernes des ecoles francaises et etrangeres, joints a ceux des Galeries de San-Donato et de San-Martino (Paris: Hotel Drouot, 1877)., p. 77 (illus.)
- "Vente Sedelmeyer: Comprenant ses tableaux modernes les plus importants et ceux des Galeries de San-Donato et de San-Martino," La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, no. 15 (April 14, 1877): 156. , p. 156
- "Vente Sedelmeyer: Comprenant ses tableaux modernes les plus importants et ceux des Galeries de San-Donato et de San-Martino," La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, no. 13 (March 31, 1877): 132., p. 132
- "Vente Sedelmeyer: Comprenant ses tableaux modernes les plus importants et ceux des Galeries San-Donato et San-Martino," La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, no. 12 (March 24, 1877): 120., p. 120
- "Vente Sedelmeyer: Comprenant ses tableaux modernes les plus importants et ceux des Galeries de San-Donato et de San-Martino," La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, no. 14 (April 7, 1877): 144., p. 144
- "Vente Sedelmeyer: Comprenant ses tableaux modernes les plus importants et ceux des Galeries de San-Donato et de San-Martino," La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, no. 16 (April 21, 1877): 164., p. 164
- "Vente Sedelmeyer: Comprenant ses tableaux modernes les plus importants et ceux des Galeries de San-Donato et de San-Martino," La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, no. 17 (April 28, 1877): 176. , p. 176
- "Mouvement des arts: Galerie Sedelmeyer," La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, no. 19 (May 12, 1877): 185., p. 185
- Exposition de l'Oeuvre d'Alfred Stevens, Organisee par les Peintres Francais (Paris: Imprimerie Georges Petit, 1900)., p. 24
- Comte Robert de Montesquiou, "Alfred Stevens," Gazette des beaux-arts 23, no. 512 (February 1, 1900): 101-18., p. 16
- Arsene Alexandre, "La Vie Artistique: L'Exposition A. Stevens," Le Figaro, no. 36 (February 5, 1900): 5., p. 5
- Henri Dac, "Quinzaines Dramatiques et Artistiques," L'Univers, no. 11,689 (February 12, 1900): unpaginated.
- Catalogue officiel de l'exposition retrospective de l'art belge (Brussels: G. Van Oest, 1905)., p. 54
- Gabriel Mourey, "Alfred Stevens (1828-1906)," Les Arts, no. 60 (December 1906): 37-44., p. 42, 44
- Camille Lemonnier, Alfred Stevens et son oeuvre: suivi des impressions sur la peinture par Alfred Stevens (Brussels: G. Van Oest, 1906)., p. 25, 57; pl. XXVI
- Auguste Marguillier, "L'Art en Belgique au XIXe siecle," Gazette des beaux-arts 36, no. 593 (November 1, 1906): 438-40. , p. 440
- Camille Lemonnier, "Alfred Stevens," La Belgique artistique et litteraire 4 (July-September 1906): 26-38., p. 32
- Paul Lambotte, L'Oeuvre de Alfred Stevens: Catalogue de l'exposition organisee par la Societe royale des beaux-arts et l'art contemporain; Etude illustree sur l'oeuvre du maitre (Anvers: J.-E. Buschmann, 1907)., p. 10, 18 (illus.)
- Octave Maus, "L'Oeuvre d'Afred Stevens," L'Art Moderne, no. 17 (April 28, 1907): 129-30., p. 130
- Paul Lambotte, "Alfred Stevens," L'Art Flamand et Hollandais 7, no. 4 (April 15, 1907): 153-80., p. 162; p. 170 (illus.)
- "Stevens," Masters in Art: A Series of Illustrated Monographs 10, pt. 109 (January 1909): 23-41.
- Robert de Montesquiou, Diptyque de Flandre, Triptyque de France (Paris: E. Sansot, 1921)., p. 38-41, 72
- Exposition jubilaire, 1847-1922 (Brussels: Cercle Artistique et Litteraire, 1922)., p. 30
-
Exposition Alfred et Joseph Stevens: Catalogue (Brussels: Musee d'Art Moderne, 1928).
, p. 38-39 - Francois Boucher, Alfred Stevens (Paris: Editions Rieder, 1930)., p. 48-49, 64; fig. 54
- Exposition centennale de l'art belge, 1830-1930: Un siecle d'art (Brussels: Librairie nationale d'art et d'histoire, 1930)., p. 37
- Gustave Vanzype, Les Freres Stevens (Brussels: Nouvelles Societe d'Editions, 1936)., p. 40, fig. 25; p. 106, cat. 160; p. 118-19
-
Retrospective Alfred Stevens (Charleroi, Belgium: Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, 1975).
, cat. 20 - Alfred Stevens (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1977)., p. 40 (cat. 18); p. 41, 43, 53, 55, 65, 99, 125-27, 131, 133, 136, 150
- Joel Isaacson, "Alfred Stevens at Ann Arbor and Elsewhere," The Burlington Magazine 120, no. 898 (January 1978): 47-48., p. 47-48; fig. 51
- Christiane Lefebvre, Alfred Stevens, 1823-1906 (Paris: Brame et Lorenceau, 2006)., p. 15; p. 88, fig. 90; p. 89, fig. 91; p. 133, 188n12, 207
- Alfred Stevens, 1823 Brussels-Paris 1906 (Brussels: Mercatorfonds, 2009)., p. 30, 129n23; p. 145, fig. 48
- Danielle Derrey-Capon and Alain Dierkens, Alfred Stevens (1823-1906) et le panorama de l'Histoire du siecle (Brussels: Musees royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, 2009)., p. 62, 99
- Oude Meesters, Moderne en Hedendaagse Kunst (Lokeren, Belgium: De Vuyst, 2011). , p. 16; p. 17, cat. 31; p. 227
- "Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2012," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 71/72 (2012-13): p. 105-132., p. 120
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 317
- John Elderfield, In the Studio: Paintings (New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2015). , p. 77, 98; p. 99 (illus.), p. 176
- Benedicte Bonnet Saint-Georges, "Des tableaux d'Alfred Stevens et d'Edouard Agneessens pour Bruxelles," La Tribune de l'Art (March 15, 2016).
