The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

A Night Class

A Night Class

c. 1881
(French, 1840–1902)
France, 19th century
oil on wood panel
Framed: 97.2 x 82.5 x 12.5 cm (38 1/4 x 32 1/2 x 4 15/16 in.); Unframed: 60.8 x 45.4 cm (23 15/16 x 17 7/8 in.)
Bequest of Noah L. Butkin 1980.292
Location: not on view

Description

The artist himself described his painting of a night class: "Under smoldering electric lights, a model in historical costume poses for eager, ambitious art students. A few of them might have real talent, some could become commercial artists, but most, unfortunately, have no future in art at all." Although trained in a conservative academic style, Vibert here pokes fun at his own artistic tradition. Vibert was fond of caricaturing the pretentious elements of 19th-century French society. The work was shown at the 1881 Salon exhibition.
  • Alonzo J. Tinsley. New York, Sotheby's PB 84 sale, 18 May 1977 (lot 341), The Life Drawing Class, signed, panel, 24œ x 18 in.
    Shepherd Gallery, New York. Bought in June 1977 by Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1980.
  • 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. 622-6259, Vol. II, no. 218
    Seney, George I. Catalogue of Mr. George I. Seney's Important Collection of Modern Paintings, To Be Sold by Auction ... on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, February 11th, 12th and 13th ... in the Assembly Room of the Madison Square Garden Building; the Paintings Will Be on Exhibition Day and Evening at the American Art Galleries ... from January 28th Until Date of Sale Inclusive; American Art Association, Managers, Thomas E. Kirby, Auctioneer. New York: [The American art galleries], 1891. 218
  • 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. 76, p. 216-217.
    Light: Art, Technology, and Society in the Industrial Age, 1750-1900. Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (April 7-July 29, 2001).
    Year in Review: 1980. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 24-July 19, 1981).
    CMA. The Artist and the Studio in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (1978), no. 20, 37, 42, 65 (repr.).
    Paris, Palais des Champs-Élysées. Salon (1881), no. 2346, Un atelier le soir.
    Paris, Palais des Champs-Élysées. Exposition Nationale (1883), no. 688, L'Atelier du Soir (Salon de 1881), 60 x 45 cm.
  • {{cite web|title=A Night Class|url=false|author=Jehan-Georges Vibert|year=c. 1881|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1980.292