The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Young Woman with a Mandolin, Portrait of Louison Köhler

Young Woman with a Mandolin, Portrait of Louison Köhler

c. 1873–1874
(French, 1817–1887)
Framed: 70.5 x 62.2 x 7.6 cm (27 3/4 x 24 1/2 x 3 in.); Unframed: 54.9 x 46 cm (21 5/8 x 18 1/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

Bonvin was fascinated by the realism of 17th-century Dutch, Flemish, and Spanish still life paintings. He was also aware of the French Realist movement, a highly candid, straightforward style with political overtones. This work embodies both the realism for which Bonvin was famous and the still life paintings of earlier periods. The woman in the painting is Louison Köhler (1850–?), the artist's mistress. After two failed marriages, Bonvin met her in 1870, and she remained with him until his death, appearing in several of his paintings. The image of the reclining woman hanging directly over Louison's head probably suggests the carnal nature of their relationship. Bonvin borrowed this image—a swooning, overjoyed female—from the famous painting Bacchanal by Titian (1485–1576), now in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
  • 1973
    (Sale, Hôtel Drouot, December 19, 1973 (lot 213)
    ?
    Vachet collection, Paris
    After 1973
    Robert Caby [1905-1992], Paris, sold to Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin
    Until 1977
    Noah L. [1918-1980] and Muriel S. Butkin [1915-1908], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1977-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Gabriel Weisberg, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Aug. 5, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
    Weisberg, Gabriel P. Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art. Notre Dame, Indiana: Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, 2012.


    Weisberg, Gabriel P. Bonvin. Paris: Éditions Geoffroy-Dechaume, 1979.
    Weisberg, Gabriel P. Bonvin. Paris: Éditions Geoffroy-Dechaume, 1979
    Weisberg, Gabriel P. Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art. Notre Dame, Indiana: Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, 2012.
    Gabriel Weisberg, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Aug. 5, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
    Hôtel Drouot. Estampes anciennes et modernes. 1973.
    Weisberg, Gabriel P. Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art. Notre Dame, Indiana: Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, 2012.
    Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 59-60, Vol. I, no. 22
    Marrinan, Michael, Gustave Caillebotte: Painting the Paris of Naturalism, 1872-1887. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2016. Mentioned & Reproduced: pp. 6-7
    Guichané, Maud, Gabriel P. Weisberg, Léon Bonvin, Jo Briggs, Ger Luijten, and Michèle Quentin. Drawn to the Everyday: Léon Bonvin 1834-1866 : Catalogue Raisonné. Paris : Fondation Custodia, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 54-55, fig. 30
  • Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of the Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art. Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN (organizer) (September 2-December 2, 2012).
    Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN (8/26/2012 - 11/15/2012): "Breaking the Mold: The Legacy of Noah L. and Muriel S. Butkin Collection of Nineteenth-Century French Art", ex. cat. no. 12, p. 54-55.
    The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830 - 1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 12, 1980-January 18, 1981).
    Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).
    Paris, Palais des Champs-Élysées. Salon (1874), no. 218, Portrait de Mlle L. de K . . .
    CMA; Brooklyn Museum, Saint Louis Art Museum; Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum. The Realist Tradition: French Painting and Drawing 1830-1900 (1980-82), 246-47, no. 217 (repr.). Text by Gabriel P. Weisberg.
  • {{cite web|title=Young Woman with a Mandolin, Portrait of Louison Köhler|url=false|author=François Bonvin|year=c. 1873–1874|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.124