Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes, 'A Maid combing a Woman's Hair', about 1883
On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland About the work
Overview
This small preparatory oil sketch was painted as Puvis de Chavannes worked on a larger picture, The Toilette of 1883 (Musée d’Orsay, Paris). There are many differences between the two versions, not least that the finished work shows a more idealised scene. The topic of a young, partially clothed woman attending to her hair has a long history as it allowed painters to conjure up a scene of beauty and intimacy. This is what Puvis does here: the women do not speak to each other but are lost in reverie, while the close cropping of the two figures puts the viewer into the room with them. The artist is prompting the viewer to ask: what is this beautiful young woman thinking?
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Maid combing a Woman's Hair
- Artist dates
- 1824 - 1898
- Date made
- about 1883
- Medium and support
- oil on board
- Dimensions
- 32.5 × 24 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
- Inventory number
- NG3267
- 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 Martin Davies, with additions and some revisions by Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, etc.’, London 1970; 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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2021Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane24 February 2021 - 23 February 2031
Bibliography
-
1917R. Fry, 'The Sir Hugh Lane Pictures at the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, XXX/169, 1917, pp. 148-53
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1920H.O. Lane, 'Acquisitions of the National Gallery, London', The Connoisseur, LVII, 1920, pp. 180-3
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1924G. Mourey, 'The Centenary of Puvis de Chavannes', The Studio, LXXXVIII, 1924
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1932T. Bodkin, Hugh Lane and his Pictures, Dublin 1932
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1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
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1970Davies, Martin, and Cecil Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc., London 1970
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1976L. d'Argencourt et al., Puvis de Chavannes, 1824-1898 (exh. cat. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 26 November 1976 - 14 February 1977; National Gallery of Canada, 25 March - 8 May 1977), Paris 1976
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1977A.B. Price, Puvis de Chavannes: A Study of the Easel Paintings and a Catalogue of the Painted Works, Phd Thesis, Yale University 1977
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1979M.-C. Boucher, Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Musée du Petit Palais. Catalogue des dessins et peintures de Puvis de Chavannes, Paris 1979
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1994A.B. Price et al., Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (exh. cat. Van Gogh Museum, 25 February - 29 May 1994), Amsterdam 1994
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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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