Alfred Stevens (1823-1906)
L'Ours blanc
oil on canvas
21.8 x 70 cm.
signed with monogram upper right
Sold
"[Stevens's work is] the best example, after Vermeer, of what modest realism can achieve, served by an eye that is able to pick out fleeting radiances, and by a craftsmanship that is able to bring these into harmony." - G.Vanzype, Les Freres Stevens, 1936, p.43.
Literature
G. Vanzype, Les Freres Stevens, 1936, p.43An intimate oil by the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens (1823–1906), one of the most celebrated chroniclers of elegant Parisian women in the nineteenth century. Signed with his monogram, its title referring to the polar bear rug on which the model reclines.
This small, sensually handled canvas showcases the virtuoso, near-monochrome handling of whites and greys for which Stevens – a close contemporary of the Impressionists working in Paris – was most admired by fellow painters and critics alike.