id: 146446 accession number: 1972.120 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.120 updated: 2023-09-21 11:51:04.432000 Portrait of a Woman, c. 1891. Edmond François Aman-Jean (French, 1858–1936). Oil on fabric; 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1972.120 title: Portrait of a Woman title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1891 creation date earliest: 1886 creation date latest: 1896 current location: 221 19th Century Decorative Arts creditline: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: oil on fabric department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Edmond François Aman-Jean (French, 1858–1936) - artist In 1880 Aman-Jean entered the Paris École des Beaux-Arts where he studied under the history and portrait painter Henri Lehmann (1814-1882). He would later share a studio with his close friend Seurat (q.v.). Aman-Jean also studied in the Louvre and after 1883 was advised by Puvis de Chavannes (q.v.). After receiving a stipend in 1885, he traveled to Rome the following year together with Ernest Laurent (1859-1929) and Henri Martin (1860-1943). Already an admirer of Goncourt and Flaubert, Aman-Jean began to associate with the Symbolist poets, including Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, and Philippe-Auguste Villiers de l'Isle Adam. Aman-Jean created delicate, languorous portraits of women, often recalling the works of the English Pre-Raphaelites. In 1885 Aman-Jean began exhibiting regularly at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français and later with the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts where he was also a member of the jury. In 1892 and 1893 he showed at the Salons de la Rose + Croix, organized by artists interested in mystical Catholi-cism. These exhibitions were open to all arts. During his later years, Aman-Jean was influenced by Bonnard (q.v.), a member of the Nabis. Besides producing oil paintings, Aman-Jean was also a prolific pastellist and printmaker. --- measurements: 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.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed left center in green: Aman Jean translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1972 opening date: 1973-02-27T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973). title: Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2006-05-27T00:00:00 Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Paris, Palais des Champs-Élysées. Salon (1891), jean (a.-e.), no. 874, h.c.[Hors Concours] Portrait; or no. 875, Portrait.
CMA (organizer). Beijing World Art Museum, China, May 26 - Aug. 27, 2006; Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan: Sept. 9 - Nov. 26, 2006; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea: Dec. 18, 2006 - March 31, 2007; Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea: Apr. 7 - May 20, 2007; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia: June 9 - Sept. 16, 2007; Cleveland Musuem of Art, Oct. 2007- January 2008 and the Frist Center, Nashville, TN, Feb. 21-June 1, 2008: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Musuem of Art"
CMA (organizer). Beijing World Art Museum, China, May 26 - Aug. 27, 2006; Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan: Sept. 9 - Nov. 26, 2006; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea: Dec. 18, 2006 - March 31, 2007; Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea: Apr. 7 - May 20, 2007; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: June 9 - Sept. 16, 2007; Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2007- January 13, 2008; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, Feb. 21-June 1, 2008; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22 - September 21, 2008; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI, October 12, 2008 - January 18, 2009: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art" --- PROVENANCE (Paris salon, 1891, no. 874 or 875, probably sold to a private collector) date: 1891 footnotes: *
The consignor of the painting to the sale at Christie’s in 1971 believed that it had been purchased directly from the artist, quite possibly at the Salon of 1891. The painting’s original frame is inscribed with “Salon de 1891,” and its presence is confirmed in a contemporary descriptive account of exhibited Aman-Jean paintings at the Salon: “Combien je préfère…les deux portraits de M. Aman Jean! Celui surtout de la jeune femme en noir, qui tient un bouquet de clématites, est d’une mélancolie communicative, d’un deuil attendrissant qui le gravent dans le souvenir, d’autant plus que le sentiment sincere et profound en est sontenu par un arrangement des couleurs, dans la gamme des tons de deuil, très habile et très soigné.”  However, because both nos. 874 and 875 in the exhibition catalogue are titled “Portrait” and neither is reproduced, either may be the CMA painting. 
citations: Possibly a private collector, probably sold to an Italian private collector. date: Probably from 1891 footnotes: citations: Private collector, Italy, by descent to his family date: After 1891 footnotes: *
Christie’s files indicate that an “Italian gentleman” purchased the painting from someone, probably a private co
citations: Family of an Italian collector, possibly consigned to Christie's date: Before 1971 footnotes: *
The correspondence concerning this painting's provenance prior to the 1971 Christie's sale is somewhat unclear in its description of the chain of ownership.  It seems that the Aman-Jean was likely consigned to Christie's by a descendent of the Italian collector who acquired the painting in the late ninteenth century; however, it is also possible that an unidentified collector was the consignor and should follow the Italian family in the provenance.
citations: (Christie's, London, sale, July 9, 1971, lot 258, sold to Ferrers Gallery date: 1971 footnotes: *
In the auction catalogue, the painting is titled “Meditation.”
citations: (Ferrers Gallery, London, probably sold to Cyril Humphris) date: 1971-1971/1972 footnotes: *
The price list for the July 9, 1971 Christie's sale notes that Ferrers Gallery was the buyer of the Aman-Jean painting.


citations: (Cyril Humphris, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: Until 1972 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio date: 1972- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: 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. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Christie, Manson & Woods. Impressionist and Modern Drawings, Paintings and Sculpture. June 9, 1971. page number: url: Christie, Manson & Woods. Impressionist and Modern Drawings, Paintings and Sculpture. June 9, 1971. page number: url: Patrick Lindsay, letter to Sherman Lee, Jan. 3, 1973, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Patrick Lindsay, letter to Sherman Lee, Jan. 3, 1973, in CMA curatorial file page number: url: Patrick Lindsay, letter to Sherman Lee, Jan. 3, 1973, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Patrick Lindsay, letter to Sherman Lee, Jan. 3, 1973, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: “Les Salons de 1891,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts 5 (June 1891): 468. page number: url: Catalogue illustré de peinture et sculpture: Salon de 1891. Paris: L. Baschet, 1891. page number: url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 217 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n237 Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 8-11, Vol. I, no. 3 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.120/1972.120_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.120/1972.120_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.120/1972.120_full.tif