Sitting Room
Antoine Vollon
(French, 1833–1900)
about 1870
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions40.0 x 26.6 cm (15 3/4 x 10 1/2 in.)
Credit LineThe Henry C. and Martha B. Angell Collection
Accession number19.115
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
After moving to Paris in 1859, the Lyonnais artist Antoine Vollon was soon admired by the city’s affluent collectors for his small, carefully rendered still lifes of modest meals and everyday household items. He expanded his repertoire in the 1880s to include comfortable, middle-class interiors like the one depicted in Sitting Room. Here, the room and its contents become a kind of portrait, within which are conventional still-life passages—on the table, a silver tray with glasses and a decanter; a vase of flowers and greens; and a casually placed umbrella and gloves on the seat of the chair. Though the room appears quiet and peaceful and the spaniel in the foreground is slumbering, the precariously balanced umbrella, presumably belonging to the lady of the house, appears as if it has only been laid down for a brief moment. This allusion to the room’s active human occupant cleverly infuses the otherwise tranquil painting with expectant vitality.
InscriptionsLower left: A. VollonProvenanceAbout 1870, sold by Inglis, either James Inglis of Cottier and Co., New York, or Thomas Inglis (dealer), Boston to Dr. Henry Clay Angell (b. 1829 - d. 1911), Boston [see note 1]; by inheritance to his widow, Martha Bartlett Angell (b. 1833 - d. 1919), Boston; gift of Martha Bartlett Angell to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 20, 1919)NOTES:
[1] According to information provided by Dr. Angell in 1909, the picture was purchased from "Inglis."
Antoine Vollon
Antoine Louis Barye
Antoine-François Callet
1777
