Master Paintings
Master Paintings
Nature morte à la bougie
Auction Closed
May 25, 03:13 PM GMT
Estimate
35,000 - 45,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
François Bonvin
1817 - 1887
Nature morte à la bougie
signed and dated Fr. Bonvin 1878 (lower left)
oil on panel
panel: 7½ by 9 4/5 in.; 19 by 25 cm
framed: 12¾ by 15 1/5 in.; 32.3 by 38.6 cm
Largely confined indoors by illness, Bonvin focused almost exclusively on intimate still lives of domestic objects in the last years of his career. This small still life is a celebration of materials and making centered on correspondence with an air of privacy if not secrecy: sheets of paper, a block of wax, a wooden-handled seal, and the still smoking candle whose heat helps bind the various elements together. The recently extinguished flame--a familiar motif from vanitas still life paintings--suggests the physical presence of an unseen figure and marks a particular moment in time: a poignant reminder of the fleeting nature of life and by contrast the lasting power of the written word.