Skip to content
Title:
Still Life with Book, Papers and Inkwell
Object name(s):
Picture; French
Brief description:
This small oil painting is typical of the still lifes which, together with scenes of everyday life, form the core of Bonvin's art. His still lifes often include objects associated with a particular profession. The two coins and what might be a ledger book suggest bookkeeping is the profession here. Inkwells, quill pens, books and papers all appear in the pictures of schoolboys, often working at their desks, which Bonvin painted between 1873 and 1879 (the period when this picture was painted), but the spectacles imply an adult is using the items we see here.Bonvin’s paintings recall those of Chardin in the previous century, but also show his familiarity with seventeenth-century Dutch and Spanish painting. This picture is unusual as it is painted on zinc, but the carefully modulated lighting and subtle use of warm complementary colours are characteristic of Bonvin.
Collection:
National Gallery
Accession date:
1917-01-01
Date - earliest / single:
1917
Date - latest:
1917
Acquisition source:
Sir Hugh Percy Lane
Credit line:
Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
Current location:
Not on display
Current reproduction location:
2/595/645/220/mid_N-3234-00-000012.jpg
Dimension:
Height
Dimension measured part:
Overall
Dimension measurement unit:
cm
Dimension value:
36.20
Dimension:
Width
Dimension measured part:
Overall
Dimension measurement unit:
cm
Dimension value:
48.30
Form:
None
Inscription content:
Signed; Dated
Material:
oil on zinc
Material:
oil
Material:
zinc
Object name:
Picture; French
Object production date:
1876
Date - earliest / single:
1876
Date - latest:
1876
Object production date:
Date - period:
1875-99
Object production person:
François Bonvin
Person's birth date:
1817
Person's death date:
1887
Object production place:
France
Object production place:
Paris
Other number:
NG3234
Other number type:
object number
Other number:
0G33-0001-0000-0000
Other number type:
PID
Other number:
NG3234
Other number type:
display number
Other number:
000-04OH-0000
Other number type:
PID (NG alternative)
Other number:
ng33234
Other number type:
sort number
Owner:
Sir Hugh Percy Lane
Responsible department/section:
Main Collection
Right note:
To encourage the use and reuse of the National Gallery's collection data, they are released under the following dedications and licences: Structured data (as opposed to narrative texts) are released under a Creative Commons Zero dedication (CC0): https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. Descriptions, notes and all other narrative text content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 licence (CC BY-NC-ND): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Style:
realist
User's reference:
National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc.
Reference details:
12-13
Reference note:
Latest catalogue
Reference type:
reference
User's reference:
National Gallery Catalogues: French School
Reference details:
17
Reference note:
Previous catalogues
Reference type:
reference
User's reference:
The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue
Reference details:
50
Reference note:
Key bibliography
Reference type:
reference
User's reference:
Hugh Lane : founder of a gallery of modern art for Ireland /edited by Barbara Dawson ; assisted by Logan Sisley, Jessica O'Donnell, and Michael Dempsey.
Reference details:
Ill. (p. 150)
Reference type:
reference

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/cfa82414-20bf-3ba2-9800-6bf330591dbd

Use licence for this record: CC BY

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/cfa82414-20bf-3ba2-9800-6bf330591dbd, National Gallery, CC BY

Is there a problem with this record? Give feedback.

Sign up to our newsletter

Follow the latest MDS developments every two months with our newsletter.

Unsubscribe any time. See our privacy notice.

Back to top