Navy, Le Treport, 1890

Oil on panel
Signed, dated 90 and located “Tréport” lower left.
Dimensions: 41 x 31,5 cm,
With frame: 67 x 57 cm

With a delicate and sensitive work on light and a lively and free touch, Alfred Stevens delivers here a luminous seascape. It is the end of the day and the pink of twilight appears in the sky. The light makes the sea shimmer, which is adorned with pink and silver reflections. Thanks to the finesse and mastery of his craft, we can feel the lapping of the waves in the foreground. A more detailed sailboat occupies the center of the composition. A few sails in the background are indicated with a brushstroke.

In 1880, the painter encountered difficulties; the beginnings of a new style of painting, Impressionism, called into question his pictorial approach. His doctor sent him to Menton, he travelled in the north of France. Berthe Morisot pushed him towards Impressionism, which he adopted in his seascapes, whose sensitivity and modernity are in every way similar to those of Jongkind. Alfred Stevens painted this painting at a time of pictorial upheaval.

Son of an art dealer, A Stevens was trained in Brussels by JF Navez and C. Roqueplan in Paris.

He will exhibit in Brussels and Paris, where he will stay very often.

He was celebrated as the painter of women, which earned him the title of "French Gérard Terborch" in homage to his talent for rendering details and sumptuous fabrics, but he also painted seascapes and coastal scenes in a freer, almost impressionist style close to Eugène Boudin and JB Jongkind. His painting is clear and luminous, his paste quite rich. He was a friend of the impressionists, especially Manet and Berthe Morisot.

In 1886 he wrote the famous Impressions on Painting, the book was a great success and was translated into several languages.

Bibliography:

• Alfred Stevens, Impressions on Painting, Paris, Librairie des Bibliophiles, 1883, 96 pages.

.•“Le Monde illustré”, August 18, 1883, p. 1-3.

Museums:

In Paris: . Orsay Museum,
    . Louvre Museum, Graphic Arts department.

In the provinces: . Museum of Fine Arts of Lille.
    . Rouen Museum of Fine Arts.
              . Museum of Fine Arts of Reims.
              . National Museum of the Château de Compiègne.
              . Magnin National Museum in Dijon.
              . Museum of Fine Arts of Marseille.
              . Fabre Museum of Montpellier.