Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund · The Cleveland Museum of Art
Image: public domain (CC0) · Museum record & image source ↗
France, 19th century · c. 1891
Portrait of a Woman
- Date
- c. 1891
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 113.4 x 117.8 x 8.3 cm (44 5/8 x 46 3/8 x 3 1/4 in.); Unframed: 84.4 x 89.5 cm (33 1/4 x 35 1/4 in.)
- Country / context
- France
- Movement / tradition
- Symbolism · Source ↗
- Collection
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Pathway
- European and American art ↗
FROM THE MUSEUM
Aman-Jean, a French Symbolist painter, was likely more concerned with evoking a wistful, meditative mood in this painting of an unidentified woman than with defining a specific personality or likeness. The restrained, tonal palette and flat, decorative shapes suggest the influence of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and James McNeill Whistler. The postcard pinned to the wall may represent a work by Sandro Botticelli. Aman-Jean exhibited this painting at the Paris Salon of 1891.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0A MOMENT TO LOOK
Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?
Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.
