Alfred Stevens, 'The Present', about 1866-71
On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland About the work
Overview
A young woman sits side-on to us. She wears a relaxed but delicate and costly gown, her hair casually caught back in a soft chignon. She looks down, apparently calmly, at a gleaming ceramic statuette of a snarling tiger, poised to pounce. Its expression and stylised pose are reminiscent of mythological creatures in the Japanese art that was of great interest in Western Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The woman is slumped, caught unawares. Her head is erect but her lips are firmly pressed together and her eyes are downcast, held by the tiger that glares back at her. Stevens has paid great attention to the detail of its shell-like surface, its arched tail and bulging eyes. It glints in the light – but not enough to detract from the note in the woman’s hand, about to slide to the floor between limp fingers. What kind of present is this? Stevens leaves the many possible answers to us.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Present
- Artist
- Alfred Stevens
- Artist dates
- 1823 - 1906
- Date made
- about 1866-71
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 37 × 46 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
- Inventory number
- NG3270
- Location
- On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Gregory Martin, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School: circa 1600–circa 1900’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2006Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2006 - 2019)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane31 December 2006 - 18 April 2021
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2009Alfred StevensRoyal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium8 May 2009 - 23 August 2009Van Gogh Museum18 September 2009 - 24 January 2010
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2021Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane24 February 2021 - 23 February 2031
Bibliography
-
1871'Exhibition of the Works of Continental Painters at the Gallery, 121 Pall Mall', Art Journal, 1871
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1896'The Grafton Galleries', The Athenaeum, 1896
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1917R. Fry, 'The Sir Hugh Lane Pictures at the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, XXX/169, 1917, pp. 148-53
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1917C. Phillips, 'National Gallery, II: Sir Hugh Lane's Pictures', Daily Telegraph, 1917
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1932T. Bodkin, Hugh Lane and his Pictures, Dublin 1932
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1936G. van Zype, Les frères Stevens, Brussels 1936
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1970G. Martin, The Flemish School, circa 1600-circa 1900, London 1970
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1977W.A. Coles, Alfred Stevens (exh. cat. University of Michigan Museum of Art, 10 September - 16 October 1977; Walters Art Gallery, 20 November 1977 - 1 January 1978; Musée des Beaux Arts, Montreal, 2 February - 19 March 1978), Ann Arbor 1977
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1986Martin, Gregory, National Gallery Catalogues: The Flemish School, circa 1600 - circa 1900, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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