- Gallery Text
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A central figure in the Belgian avant-garde at the turn of the century, Lemmen was active as a painter, draftsman, and art critic. The Lamp depicts a theme recurrent in his early work: the intimate bourgeois interior, with his sister, mother, grandmother, and father (in various combinations) doing handwork and reading by lamplight around a table. The studies of this scene that Lemmen began to make in December 1886 culminated in a lithograph (1890–91) and a major painting (untraced) that attracted considerable critical attention when exhibited at the avant-garde Salon Les XX of 1891. During this period, Lemmen executed interior scenes in Conté crayon, reflecting his careful study of Seurat’s work in that medium. Here, however, he uses brown ink and wash applied with a brush—a technique reminiscent of Van Gogh’s discrete, vigorous strokes of the reed pen.
- Identification and Creation
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- Object Number
- 2007.138
- People
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Georges Lemmen, Belgian (Brussels 1865 - 1916 Brussels)
- Title
- The Lamp
- Other Titles
- Former Title: La Lampe
- Classification
- Drawings
- Work Type
- drawing
- Date
- August 31, 1890
- Culture
- Belgian
- Physical Descriptions
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- Medium
- Brown ink and wash on cream wove paper
- Dimensions
- 23.4 x 30.7 cm (9 3/16 x 12 1/16 in.)
- Inscriptions and Marks
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- inscription: lower left, brown ink: 31 août, 90
- inscription: graphite, lower right: 604P
- inscription: verso, lower right, graphite: 692/P4
- Acquisition and Rights
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- Credit Line
- Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of William S. Lieberman, by exchange
- Accession Year
- 2007
- Object Number
- 2007.138
- Division
- European and American Art
- Contact
- am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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- Publication History
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Selected Paintings and Works on Paper, auct. cat., Jill Newhouse and Neffe-Degandt Fine Art (London/New York, 2007), no. 40, repr.
- Exhibition History
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Flowers of Evil: Symbolist Drawings, 1870–1910, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/21/2016 - 08/14/2016
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This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu