Jan Van Beers, *The Fallen Star*, 1874

by Atelier Liesjes

An elderly street musician stands leaning against a bare wall with her harp. She is seen up close, from the waist down to her knees, and looks at the viewer with watery eyes; her mouth is open, as if she were in the middle of a song. Around her head she wears a colourful headdress of yellow leaves, a red rose and ears of corn, atop a black bonnet with a white trim. Her shoulders are covered by a shawl with a pattern of reddish-brown and green flowers and fringing; beneath it, she wears a blue dress with white polka dots. Her hands, wrinkled and veined, grip the strings. These strings run like fine, grey lines from the neck to the soundbox, which is studded along the edge. Behind her hang weathered advertising posters: an announcement for *La Belle Hélène*, bottles of absinthe and vermouth, and a sign for bock beer. The harp is large and dark, with a gilded neck and a worn soundboard; it takes up the left-hand half of the canvas. Van Beers paints every detail with almost photographic sharpness: the fabric of the harp, the veins on the hands, the dust on the wall. Yet it is not a dispassionate portrait. The woman is a fallen star, once celebrated on stage, now reduced to a street corner. The contrast between her tattered finery and the flashy names on the wall lends the image its poignancy. Jan Van Beers (Lier 1852 – Paris 1927) was the son of the poet Jan Van Beers and studied at the Antwerp Academy. He began with historical pieces and anecdotal genre scenes and later moved to Paris, where he caused a sensation with his society portraits and a scandalous affair concerning his working methods. This early canvas already demonstrates his gift for capturing an entire life story in a single gesture.