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Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes, 'A Maid combing a Woman's Hair', about 1883

About the work

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

Full title
A Maid combing a Woman's Hair
Artist
Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes
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

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.

More works by Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes

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This oil sketch was painted in preparation for a large picture of 1872 (now in the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts). Puvis de Chavannes used it to work out the composition and colour harmonies for a scene in which a group of girls pick flowers in a meadow, oblivious to the sleepi...
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Summer
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The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
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Herod, ruler of Galilee, promised his stepdaughter Salome anything she desired if she danced for him; prompted by her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. The story of the beheading, with its mixture of religion, violence and eroticism, had been depicted many times in art, not leas...
Not on display