The Parisian Sphinx, Alfred Stevens

The Parisian Sphinx, Alfred Stevens (1877)

A dreamy young woman, lost in thought, gently supports her head with her hand. She stares out, directly at us.The background is brown and neutral, the space devoid of objects or attributes. Who is she? What riddles does she have to tell? The title merely adds to the mystery. The Brussels-born artist Alfred Stevens made his name in Paris as a painter of beautifully dressed ladies in charming genre pieces, in which he invariably captured a fleeting mood. The sadness of a farewell, the emotion of a letter, the rustle of a silk dress. In The Parisian Sphinx, he turns a young bourgeoise into a mysterious and sensual apparition.The Parisian Sphinx, Alfred Stevens (1877)

A dreamy young woman, lost in thought, gently supports her head with her hand. She stares out, directly at us.The background is brown and neutral, the space devoid of objects or attributes. Who is she? What riddles does she have to tell? The title merely adds to the mystery. The Brussels-born artist Alfred Stevens made his name in Paris as a painter of beautifully dressed ladies in charming genre pieces, in which he invariably captured a fleeting mood. The sadness of a farewell, the emotion of a letter, the rustle of a silk dress. In The Parisian Sphinx, he turns a young bourgeoise into a mysterious and sensual apparition.