Alfred Stevens

Henri Le Roy et fils, Brussels (stamped in red with the Henri le Roy sale stamp and additional red wax stamp on the stretcher)
Mrs. Charles Wrightsman (and sold, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, May 5, 1984, lot 31, illustrated)
Collection of Roberto Polo
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, October 24, 1989, lot 99, illustrated
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

Paris, École des Beaux-Arts, L'Oeuvre d'Alfred Stevens, 1900, no. 165 (as Dans le Parc)

Achille Ségard, Alfred Stevens, Paris, 1900, revue no. 7, illustrated (as Boule de Jardin)
G. Khan, 1900
Archives Le Roy, 1900
Gustave van Zype, Les frères Stevens, Brussels, 1936, no. 235
Christiane Lefebvre, Alfred Stevens 1823-1906, Paris, 2006, p. 130, no. 144, illustrated p. 127 (as La boule argentée)
Saskia de Bodt, Danielle Derrey-Capon, Michel Draguet, et. al., Alfred Stevens, exh. cat., Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 2009, p. 36, illustrated p. 101, no. 27 (as The Glass Ball or The Silver Ball)

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work on canvas may have been recently restored. The canvas has been lined with a non-wax adhesive. The lining is good. The painting shows no abrasion. Under ultraviolet light, one can see a few isolated spots of retouching to the left of the mirrored ball. There is a small group of isolated retouches in the lower left corner to the left of the metal stand and another small group of retouches beneath the umbrella. The figure shows a spot or two of retouching in her waist and in her left elbow. There are no retouches in her face or in the reflection. The only other retouches of note are between the figure and the center of the right edge and in the grass in the lower right corner. The retouches, such as they are, are not particularly well applied, and if the work were cleaned, more accurate retouches could be added.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Stevens was a connoisseur of objects and an eclectic collector, filling his studio with props, fabrics, trophies, furniture, and souvenirs of all types, even borrowing dresses from such exclusive fashion houses as the famed Maison Paquin for his models.  While standing in front of Stevens' painting La Psyché, Robert de Montesquiou exclaimed, "it is an apotheosis of Stevens' art and all of his loves: women, objects, and the reflections that multiply them" (Lefebvre, p.  89).

Stevens combined all of his loves in La boule de verre, which reflects elegance in its shining surface. Intended to capture all the features of a garden into one view including the flowers, trees, lawn, and house into one enchanting view, these metallic globes were also reputed to bring visitors luck, fortune, and happiness. When placed inside the home, their convex mirrored surfaces provided a discreet method for alerting servants to guest's needs without requiring eye contact, as well as a means to supervise daughters and their suitors with great subtlety.

The present work previously belonged to Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, whose comprehensive collection included another celebrated painting by Stevens, In the Studio (fig. 1), which she bequeathed to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1986. Both works display the painter's interest in reflective devices: In the Studio employs a convex mirror, iniviting a direct comparison to Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait (1434, The National Gallery, London).  Additionally, the use of globes, mirrors, and glass allowed him to maximize the scene, to project what might lie behind the viewer (in this case, the artist's home), and to demonstrate his ability to paint the complicated reflection on its surface.

Stevens painted La boule de verre in the flower garden of his newly acquired Paris residence at 65 rue des Martyrs, which was frequented by Édouard Manet and Claude Monet, both escaping the congested streets of the city to paint there. Stevens' admiration for Manet's vibrant flowers and plush natural landscapes appears in the sumptuous foliage, roses and the geraniums that fill the garden in the present work.