Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens
Belgian 1823-1906
First Night at the Theatre
Monogrammed (lr)
Oil on canvas
45 3/4 x 33 3/4 inches (116.2 x 85.7 cm)
Provenance:
C. Marshall Spink, London (as Scene at the Theatre)
Sir Charles Pulley
T. H. Robsjohn Gibbings, Athens
Sale, Sotheby's, London, Feb. 26, 1964, lot 78
Private collection
Irwin Scherzer, New York
Literature:
The Burlington Magazine, Dec. 1950, vol. XCII, No. 573, illus.
Depicted in the audience on the opening night of a performance at the Palace Theatre in London, are several prominent public figures, mainly from the literary world of London. Joseph Conrad can be seen wearing spectacles and smoking; Lily Langtry, is positioned at the lower right; Thomas Hardy, at the lower center, as well as H. G. Wells, Ellen Terry and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, possibly the man at center, just above Hardy. The man with the curled moustache, depicted in the upper center, appears to be the artist himself. It has been suggested at H.R.H. The Prince of Wales was also in attendance that evening.
(Framed 51 x 38 3/8 inches)
Wax lined; frame rubbing; scattered craquelure, resulting in a few areas in the upper right quadrant of the painting where the pigment is beginning to lift; inpainting scattered along the edges; there does appear to be scattered inpainting within the painting, however, under UV light through the dulling varnish, the extent of any restoration is difficult to determine.
Belgian 1823-1906
First Night at the Theatre
Monogrammed (lr)
Oil on canvas
45 3/4 x 33 3/4 inches (116.2 x 85.7 cm)
Provenance:
C. Marshall Spink, London (as Scene at the Theatre)
Sir Charles Pulley
T. H. Robsjohn Gibbings, Athens
Sale, Sotheby's, London, Feb. 26, 1964, lot 78
Private collection
Irwin Scherzer, New York
Literature:
The Burlington Magazine, Dec. 1950, vol. XCII, No. 573, illus.
Depicted in the audience on the opening night of a performance at the Palace Theatre in London, are several prominent public figures, mainly from the literary world of London. Joseph Conrad can be seen wearing spectacles and smoking; Lily Langtry, is positioned at the lower right; Thomas Hardy, at the lower center, as well as H. G. Wells, Ellen Terry and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, possibly the man at center, just above Hardy. The man with the curled moustache, depicted in the upper center, appears to be the artist himself. It has been suggested at H.R.H. The Prince of Wales was also in attendance that evening.
(Framed 51 x 38 3/8 inches)
Wax lined; frame rubbing; scattered craquelure, resulting in a few areas in the upper right quadrant of the painting where the pigment is beginning to lift; inpainting scattered along the edges; there does appear to be scattered inpainting within the painting, however, under UV light through the dulling varnish, the extent of any restoration is difficult to determine.
