Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings Signed and dated (lower left): AStevens [initials in monogram] .88.
Gallery Label A female artist and her model take a break from a painting session to welcome a visitor to the studio. On the easel is Stevens's version of "Salomé," which is based on Regnault's famous painting of 1870 (hanging nearby). The setting is thought to be Stevens's studio, which was admired for its stylish arrangement of the exotic and luxurious objects that he collected. With the open portfolio, picture-within-the-picture, and mirror (reflecting a mundane coal stove), this work presents an elaborate play on the relationship between art and reality.
Provenance Louis Sarlin (by 1900–18; his estate sale, Georges Petit, Paris, March 2, 1918, no. 68; sold together with entire contents of that sale for Fr 3,000,000 to Heilbuth); Herman Heilbuth, Copenhagen (from 1918); sale, Galerie Fievez, Brussels, June 14–15, 1927, no. 262, as "L'atelier"; [Galerie Bruno Meissner, Zurich, in 1978]; Dr. and Mrs. Edwin J. De Costa, Chicago (until 1980; their sale, Sotheby's, New York, January 25, 1980, no. 148, for $77,500, to Hirschl & Adler for Wrightsman); Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, New York (1980–his d. 1986); Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, New York (1986)
Exhibition History Paris. Champ-de-Mars. "Salon de la Sociéte nationale des beaux-arts," May 7, 1892, no. 966 (as "L'atelier").
Paris. École des Beaux-Arts. "Exposition de l'oeuvre d'Alfred Stevens," February 6–27, 1900, no. 148 (as "L'atelier," lent by Louis Sarlin, Paris).
References Exposition nationale des beaux-arts . Exh. cat., Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Paris, 1892, pp. 27, 96, no. 966, ill.Alfred Stevens et son oeuvre, suivi des impressions sur la peinture par Alfred Stevens . Brussels, 1906, p. 32, Pl. XXXV.in Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1986–1987 . New York, 1987, pp. 38–39, ill. (color).New York Times (July 31, 1987), p. C28.19th Century European Art . Sotheby's, New York. October 29, 2002, p. 92, fig. 1.Alfred Stevens: 1823–1906 . Exh. cat., Adam Williams Fine Art, New York. London, 2004, p. 40, under no. 5, fig. 31.19th Century European Art . Sotheby's, New York. April 20, 2005, p. 217, under no. 127.in The Wrightsman Pictures . New York, 2005, pp. 396–97, no. 112, ill. (color).
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