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Description: | Signed: yes Description: Alfred Stevens trained in Brussels but spent most of his working life in Paris where he enjoyed official and court patronage. He exhibited regularly at the Paris and Brussels Salons, yet maintained close contacts with Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and the numerous avant-garde artists of his circle. Stevens specialised as a painter of well to do, fashionably dressed young women, and developed a much-imitated style that placed particular emphasis on the detailed depiction of beautiful objects and materials, earning himself the epithet of The ter Borch of France'. His convincingly naturalistic marine paintings represent a significant departure from his luxuriant portraits; for these he adopted a freer style comparable to those of Barthold Jongkind (1819-1891) and Eugène Boudin (1824-1898). Steven's Off the Coast of Deauville is typical of these works. The paint is applied loosely, allowing the ground to show through as a colour. The low horizon line lends the picture great depth while the subtle variety of tones is emphasised by the painting's richly textured surface. Probably painted in the open air, this picture seems to verify Boudin's comment: §everything that is painted directly and on the spot always has a force, a power, a vivacity of touch that is not to be found in studio work§. | Subjects: | marine; place (Deauville) | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Stevens, Alfred Emile Leopold Joseph Victor (Belgian painter, 1823-1906) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8403... | Go to resource |
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