View allAll Photos Tagged PierrePuvisdeChavannes
Les fresques de Pierre Puvis de Chavannes ornant l’escalier d'Honneur de la Boston Public Library au 700 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts, États-Unis.
Cette bibliothèque publique a été installée dans le McKim Building, un édifice de la fin 19e siècle inspiré d'un palais de la Renaissance italienne avec des fresques intérieures exceptionnelles.
Boston est l'une des plus anciennes villes des États-Unis. Fondée en 1630 sur la péninsule de Shawmut, au fond du Boston Harbor, par des puritains anglais fuyant les persécutions religieuses de leur pays, elle s’est rapidement développée dès le 17e siècle : l'université Harvard est notamment fondée en 1636. Boston est aujourd’hui la capitale et la plus grande ville de l’État du Massachusetts et de la région de Nouvelle-Angleterre, dans le nord-est des États-Unis. Elle constitue le nord de la mégalopole du Nord-Est des États-Unis, communément appelée BosWash, qui s'étend de Boston à Washington en passant par New York.
La ville est traversée par le fleuve Charles, un fleuve côtier qui se jette dans le Boston Harbor, un estuaire au fond de la baie du Massachusetts sur les bords duquel la ville s'est construite. Centre économique et culturel de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, Boston est connu pour l'excellence de ses universités, notamment l'université Harvard et le Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), situés dans la ville voisine de Cambridge.
What more can I say? Here's the Setting Sun over Lake Shinji seen from near the modernist Shimane Art Museum. As luck would have it there was a marvellous exhibition of the work of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) entitled "l'Arcadie au bord de l'eau" (Arcadia on the Waterfront). I won't go into details and allow this scene to work itself into your minds. Buddhist guards stand watch and in the distance reel Kites (I think).
Good night!
Sometimes... Often I feel so... although i'm white dressed.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, La Morte e le fanciulle, 1872. Musee Orsay, Paris
Taken in 2011.
Murals by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes above the Main Staircase at the Boston Public Library. The lion (one of two, and deliberately left unfinished) was sculpted by Louis Saint-Gaudens.
Week 9 Ingmar Bergman (1291-1295) 4/3 – 4/8/2022 ID 1295
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes French 1824-1898
Death and the Maidens , 1872
Oil on canvas
Acquired by Sterling Clark, 1918 1955.54
From the Placard: The Clark
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Puvis_de_Chavannes
www.theartstory.org/artist/puvis-de-chavannes-pierre/
www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437349
FILM: The Seventh Seal 1958
ID 1295
Free download under CC Attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit the artist and rawpixel.com.
American graphic designer Ethel Reed (1874-1912) rose to fame at the early age of eighteen as an acclaimed poster designer. To everyone's perplex, she disappeared from historical records a few years later. Strongly influenced by the Art Nouveau movement and Japonisme, her artworks usually captured female figures and floral motifs along with the use of negative space and stark contrast between the figure and the background. We have digitally enhanced Reed's notable designs in this collection and they are free to download and use under the CC0 license.
Higher resolutions with no attribution required can be downloaded: https://www.rawpixel.com/board/1315468/ethel-reeds-art-nouveau-graphics-i-high-resolution-cc0-public-domain-artworks?sort=curated&mode=shop&page=1
File name: Les Muses
Title: The Muses of Inspiration hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Set against a background of soft green heather fields, a strikingly blue sea, and a golden pastel sky, nine, white-robed muses regard Enlightenment, a winged figure who stands above the doorway to Bates Hall, emitting rays of light from his hands. The swath of fabric was added to the figure by an artist's assistant after the panels arrived in Boston, as his nudity was not widely accepted. Also pictured in this panel are the figures of Study (left of the doorway, holding a tablet) and Contemplation (right of the doorway, with her finger to her head in thought).
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses; Gods
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes - Hope (c.1872)
In the wake of the catastrophic Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the artist painted this picture of a young woman seated in a devastated landscape holding an oak twig as a symbol of hope for the nation's recovery from war and deprivation. This painting was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1872. A smaller variant, showing the subject nude, is at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
File name: Physics
Title: Physics
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Two figures pass along telegraph wires, representing one of the latest technological advancements of the late 19th century. The white-robed figure above bears good news, while the gray-clad figure below bears bad news, her hand clasped to her distraught face. At lower left, a telegraph pole is depicted, while at upper right, a thin bolt of lightning acknowledges the presence of electricity.
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Physics; Telegraph lines
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: Chemistry
Title: Chemistry
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: In this panel representing Chemistry (mineral, organic, vegetable), a fairy waves her wand over a flaming substance undergoing ""mysterious change"" as three spirits look on.
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Fairies; Ghosts; Chemistry
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Oil on canvas; 70.5 x 82 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
Oil on canvas; 61 x 47 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
Oil on canvas; 240 x 316 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
File name: Dramatic Poetry
Title: Dramatic poetry
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Depicting a scene from Prometheus Bound, the bearded figure of Prometheus is chained to a rocky outcrop above the sea while a vulture circles above and the Oceanides (sea nymphs) surround him. Situated in the foreground, Aeschylus reclines on a cliff's edge holding a script.
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses; Poetry; Prometheus (Greek deity); Aeschylus
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: Pastoral Poetry
Title: Pastoral poetry
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: In this panel, Puvis depicts Virgil, author of the Aeneid and one of the artist's personal favorites. In the foreground sit two beehives, set by a stream in a grove of trees. The robed Virgil stands amongst the trees, laden with their golden leaves. As written in the Aeneid, golden leaves marking the entrance to the under world must be picked in order to gain passage to the land below. In the distant background, Puvis depicts two shepherds.
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Poetry; Virgil
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: History
Title: History
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Personifying history, a red-robed woman calls up the spirits of the past from the cavernous ruins of a temple below. The figure to her right carries a bound codex book and the torch of science.
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: History; Goddesses
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: Astronomy
Title: Astronomy
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Representing the discipline of Astronomy, Chaldean shepherds lean against a rocky outcrop and observe the stars, which are rendered as small light flecks in the top portion of the canvas. In this scene, the shepherds discover the law of numbers. A woman peers out of a shelter in the lower left section of the image.
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Shepherds; Astronomy
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: Philosophy
Title: Philosophy
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Representing the discipline of philosophy, Plato and one of his disciples discourse in an Athenian courtyard, with the Acropolis pictured behind them. Notably, the seated figure at left reads a bound codex book, a form of text that did not exist in classical times.
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Philosophy; Plato
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Oil on canvas; 155.5 x 192.5 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
File name: Epic Poetry
Title: Epic poetry
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Two figures representing the Iliad and the Odyssey approach Homer, who sits holding a staff with a lyre nearby.
General notes: Title from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Poetry; Homer
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Oil on canvas; 136.7 x 86.5 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
File name: Chavannes_001
Title: Detail from The Muses of Inspiration hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Detail from The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. The detail depicts three of the left-side muses against a backdrop of sea and sky. The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly ""flat"" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: Chavannes_005
Title: View of The Muses of Inspiration hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light, right side
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Detail from The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. The detail depicts one of the right-side muses against a backdrop of sea and sky. The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly ""flat"" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Oil on canvas; 82 x 102 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
Black chalk; 43.8 x 74 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
File name: Chavannes_007
Title: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, central section
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. This section depicts the winged figure of Enlightenment, cresting the doorway to Bates Hall. Flanking the doorway are the figures of Study (at left, holding a tablet) and Contemplation (at right, with her hand held to her head in thought). The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly ""flat"" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses; Gods
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: Chavannes_004
Title: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, right side
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. This view depicts three of the right-side muses against a backdrop of sea and sky. The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly ""flat"" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Oil on canvas; 32.5 x 46.3 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
File name: P.Puvis_de_Chavannes
Title: Detail from Physics panel showing signature of "P. Puvis de Chavannes - Paris 1896."
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 14 x 7 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: The lower right section of the Physics panel, depicting the signature of artist P. Puvis de Chavannes with the origin and date of the canvas, ""Paris 1896,"" inscribed below.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Oil on paper, mounted on canvas; 105 x 130 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
File name: Chavannes_003
Title: Signature of P. Puvis de Chavannes from The Muses of Inspiration hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Detail from The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. This detail depicts the artist's signature: ""P. Puvis de Chavannes.""
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: Chavannes_002
Title: Detail from The Muses of Inspiration hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: Detail from The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. The detail depicts three of the right-side muses against a backdrop of sea and sky. The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly ""flat"" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Oil on paper laid down on canvas; 129.5 x 252.1 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
File name: Chavannes_008
Title: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, left side
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. The view depicts the left portion of this long panel, showing five muses and a tablet bearing the title of the piece. The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly ""flat"" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses; Gods
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
Pastoral Poetry, Dramatic Poetry, and Epic Poetry: Pierre Puvis De Chavannes, 1896, murals; Lion: Louis Saint-Gaudens, 1894, sculpture; all: Public Library, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
File name: Chavannes_006
Title: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, left side
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. This view depicts a group of the left-side muses against a backdrop of sea and sky, and a tablet inscribed with the French title of this section. The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly ""flat"" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
File name: Chavannes_009
Title: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, right side
Creator/Contributor: Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 (artist); Boston Public Library (sponsor); Lanzel, Sheryl (photographer)
Genre: Paintings; Murals
Date created: 1893-1896 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 painting : mural, oil on canvas ; visible image 16 x 50 feet
Physical description notes: Canvases completed in Puvis' studio in Paris and shipped over to Boston for installation in 1895-96. Canvas applied to the walls of the grand staircase gallery using an adhesive technique called marouflage. The artist used encaustic wax in the painting process to make the surface appear matte and more fresco-like.
Summary/Abstract: View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. The view depicts the right portion of this long panel, showing four muses and the figures of Enlightenment (top left) and Contemplation (left). The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly ""flat"" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.
General notes: Title created by cataloger, adapted from Description of the Decorative Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
Date notes: On May 25, 1893, the Trustees of the BPL contracted Pierre Puvis de Chavannes for mural work completed between 1893 and 1896. As the aging artist was reluctant to travel to Boston, he painted the panels on canvas in his Neuilly studio in France. The panels were then shipped over to the library; installation was completed in 1896.
Subjects: Goddesses; Gods
Collection: Mural Cycles at the Central Library, Copley Square
Location: Chavannes Gallery Murals: The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, the Messenger of Light
Rights: Copyright (c) Sheryl Lanzel
“Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them.”
~Henry David Thoreau
See here for more of this mural
Oil on canvas; 104.5 x 109.9 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).
Oil on canvas; 56 x 47 cm.
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was the leading French mural painter of the later 19th century. He was largely independent of the major artistic currents of his time and was much admired by a diverse group of artists and critics, including Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Charles Baudelaire, and Théophile Gautier. He became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and his work influenced many other artists.
Puvis’s teachers included Thomas Couture and Eugène Delacroix. Although he exhibited regularly at the Paris Salons from the 1860s on, Puvis is best remembered for the huge canvases he painted for the walls of city halls and other public buildings throughout France. He developed a style characterized by simplified forms, rhythmic line, and pale, flat, frescolike coloring for allegorical pieces and idealizations of themes from antiquity. In 1861 he began an important series of paintings that became part of the decorative scheme (completed 1882) for the museum at Amiens. Among his other major commissions is a series of panels in the Panthéon, Paris, illustrating the life of St. Geneviève. Begun in 1876, the work was completed by his students after his death. Other important Paris murals are in the Sorbonne (1887–89) and the Hôtel de Ville (completed in 1893). He also painted the staircase of the public library at Boston (1894–98).