Portrait of a young woman at her toilette - Alfred Stevens (1823-1906)

Alfred STEVENS 1823-1906

was a Belgian painter as well known in France as in his homeland.
The son of a collector of the great masters (Géricault and Delacroix), it was only natural that Alfred Stevens should study in Paris in 1844 under Jean-Dominique Ingres.
He became friends with painter Édouard Manet, poet Charles Baudelaire and English painter James Whistler.

His first paintings, shown at the Paris and Brussels Salons, were of sad, military subjects.
He soon abandoned this subject, however, for majestic female portraits imbued with a halo of grace.

In 1855, he was decorated by the King of the Belgians for one of these paintings.
From 1858 onwards, he enjoyed dazzling success. The whole of society sought to own his works, an ode to femininity.

A painter who won a gold medal at the 1867 Exposition Universelle, Officer of the Legion of Honor, he was supported by Princess Mathilde Bonaparte, Princess de Metternich and the King of the Belgians.
in the world's greatest museums.

He was also a courageous soldier, enlisting in the National Guard during the Siege of Paris in 1870.
He set up a painting studio for women, frequented by the great Sarah Bernhardt, who was one of his first students.

In 1900, he became the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.