Woman at the Spinet
Medium
fabricated black chalk with touches of brown and red chalk and stumping
Dimensions
{"sheet":{"height":0.42,"width":0.305}}
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Accession Number
2010.166
Tags
About this artwork
The subject of the woman at the piano was a recurrent theme in Bonvin’s oeuvre. The pianist depicted here was likely Céline Prunaire, a 21-year-old musician who married the much older artist in 1860. Although the meticulously rendered composition celebrates the grace and propriety of the young woman, the happiness of the couple’s union was fleeting. Prunaire left the artist after fewer than three years, never to return. The pink carnation at her feet suggests a note of foreboding to the image, p...