id: 150075 accession number: 1980.280 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1980.280 updated: 2024-03-26 01:59:45.977000 Seated African Woman, 1860s. Henri Regnault (French, 1843–1871). Oil on fabric; framed: 71.8 x 61.6 x 7.7 cm (28 1/4 x 24 1/4 x 3 1/16 in.); unframed: 57.2 x 47.2 cm (22 1/2 x 18 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.280 title: Seated African Woman title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1860s creation date earliest: 1860 creation date latest: 1869 current location: creditline: Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 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 * Henri Regnault (French, 1843–1871) - artist The writers who knew him well, such as Henri Cazalis and Arthur Duparc, characterized Henri Regnault as having a fiery temperament, being demanding, but also capable of generosity and compassion. A timid being, respectful of others, was hidden behind a sometimes arrogant facade. Highly athletic, he was an untiring hiker; he swam, hunted, and went horseback riding. He had always made drawings; as a child he drew the animals of the Jardin des Plantes from memory. Once he had completed his classical studies, Regnault had no difficulty in deciding upon his vocation. Seeking advice, his father, Victor Regnault, the famous chemist and physicist, contacted Ingres (q.v.) and Hippolyte Flandrin (1809-1864). At that time Flandrin was very busy painting frescoes at Saint Germain-des-Prés and could not take Regnault on as a student. Thus, Flandrin directed him to the studio of Louis Lamothe (1822-1869), another former student of Ingres.1 Austere and dull, Lamothe knew no better than to assign Regnault the task of drawing after the religious subjects of Raphael (1493-1520), Poussin (1594-1665), and Ingres. Meanwhile, at the École des Beaux-Arts, under Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889) Regnault was being taught to work after nude models. Neither method suited the young student, who was more interested in color. Nevertheless, even this experience did not thwart his deeply felt calling. Just at the beginning of a dazzling career, Regnault's life ended tragically when, at the age of twenty-seven, he fell under Prussian fire at Buzenval in 1871. --- measurements: Framed: 71.8 x 61.6 x 7.7 cm (28 1/4 x 24 1/4 x 3 1/16 in.); Unframed: 57.2 x 47.2 cm (22 1/2 x 18 9/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed lower left: HR [monogram] translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1980 opening date: 1981-06-24T04:00:00 Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981). title: Benjamin-Constant and Orientalism During the French Third Republic opening date: 2014-10-04T00:00:00 Benjamin-Constant and Orientalism During the French Third Republic. Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, France (October 4, 2014-January 4, 2015); Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (organizer) (January 26-May 31, 2015). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'CMA. The Artist and the Studio in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (1978), no. 28, 52, 54 (repr.).', 'opening_date': '1978-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, France (10/4/2014 - 1/4/2015) and Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, Quebec (1/26/2015 - 6/7/2015): "Benjamin-Constant and Orientalism During the French Third Republic"', 'opening_date': '2014-10-04T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Paris sale, Drouot, 16 March 1976 (lot 128), "L'esclave noire, toile 56 x 46, monogramme en bas à gauche," for ff 2,300. Shepherd Gallery, New York. Bought in August 1976 by Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1980. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS 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. 522-524, Vol. II, no. 183 url: Bondil, Nathalie, Samuel Montiège, Valerie Behiery, and Benjamin-Constant. Benjamin-Constant: Marvels and Mirages of Orientalism. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Paris, Frarnce : Hazan, 2014. page number: Reproduced: P. 29, fig. 8 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.280/1980.280_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.280/1980.280_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1980.280/1980.280_full.tif