id: 148967
accession number: 1977.124
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1977.124
updated: 2023-08-23 22:34:23.744000
Young Woman with a Mandolin, Portrait of Louison Köhler, c. 1873–1874. François Bonvin (French, 1817–1887). Oil on fabric; framed: 70.5 x 62.2 x 7.6 cm (27 3/4 x 24 1/2 x 3 in.); unframed: 54.9 x 46 cm (21 5/8 x 18 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin 1977.124
title: Young Woman with a Mandolin, Portrait of Louison Köhler
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: c. 1873–1874
creation date earliest: 1873
creation date latest: 1874
current location:
creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin
copyright:
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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:
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CREATORS
* François Bonvin (French, 1817–1887) - artist
Born into a poor family, François Bonvin was chiefly a self-taught artist. His childhood was an unhappy one, marked by the death of his mother when he was four, his father's remarriage, and the growing family's constant moving and change of fortune. From 1828 through 1830 he was lucky enough to be sent to the École de Dessin in Paris, but his artistic education was short-lived and he began working as a typesetter in 1832. He became a father one month after his marriage in 1837 and, in order to achieve financial security, applied for a clerk's job at the Paris Police Department-where he remained until 1850-while still working as a printer. Painting was still part of his life as attested by one of his first known oils, a still life from 1839. His health declined, and during a hospital-ization in 1842, Bonvin took up drawing again. He eventually returned to study at the École de Dessin and also at the Manufacture des Gobelins and in 1843 attended classes at the Académie Suisse where he could sketch from nude models. Around this time Bonvin was also introduced to Granet (q.v.), whom he would consider his true mentor, although never officially studying with him. Bonvin began painting scenes from everyday life, reflecting the simplicity and often the drudgery of the lower classes. He was encouraged in his choice of subject matter by Granet, who suggested he study the Dutch masters. Bonvin exhibited at the Salon from 1847 to 1880, receiving a second-class medal in 1850. The artist became involved in the realist movement, meeting regularly at the Brasserie Andler with, among others, his friends Jules Champfleury, a novelist and art critic, and Courbet (q.v.). During the Second Empire (1852-70) Bonvin earned a reputation with his still lifes and genre paintings that often paid tribute to the Dutch Old Masters. He traveled several times to the Netherlands in order to study such works. Bonvin also encour-aged younger painters, such as J. A. M. Whistler (1834-1903) and Fantin-Latour (q.v.), holding an exhibition of their works in his studio after they were rejected at the Salon. During his final years, Bonvin suffered from blindness and paralysis and died a broken man in 1887.
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measurements: Framed: 70.5 x 62.2 x 7.6 cm (27 3/4 x 24 1/2 x 3 in.); Unframed: 54.9 x 46 cm (21 5/8 x 18 1/8 in.)
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inscriptions:
inscription: Signed lower left: F. Bonvin
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Year in Review: 1977
opening date: 1977-12-28T05:00:00
Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).
title: The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830 - 1900
opening date: 1980-11-12T05:00:00
The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830 - 1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 12, 1980-January 18, 1981).
title: Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art
opening date: 2012-09-26T00:00:00
Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art. Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (organizer) (September 2-December 2, 2012).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Paris, Palais des Champs-Élysées. Salon (1874), no. 218, Portrait de Mlle L. de K . . .
CMA; Brooklyn Museum, Saint Louis Art Museum; Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum. The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830-1900 (1980-82), 246-47, no. 217 (repr.). Text by Gabriel P. Weisberg.
Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN (8/26/2012 - 11/15/2012): "Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art", ex. cat. no. 12, p. 54-55.
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PROVENANCE
(Sale, Hôtel Drouot, December 19, 1973 (lot 213)
date: 1973
footnotes:
citations:
Vachet collection, Paris
date: ?
footnotes:
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