Composer Frederic Chopin greets two women seated outdoors together on a couch.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

In this black ink and wash drawing, the Polish-born composer Frederic Chopin is shown standing with his back to the viewer, while holding a slender cane in his right hand. His long, wavy black hair descends onto a gray coat with a long coattail. Chopin faces two women, each wearing billowing dresses, one white and one black. The women are seated on a couch, the entire scene situated outdoors on a lawn with a single tree.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.648
People
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, British (Brighton, England 1872 - 1898 Menton, France)
Title
A Nocturne of Chopin
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Frontispiece to Chopin's "Nocturnes"
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1895
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/297917

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black ink, gray wash, and graphite on white wove paper
Dimensions
19.7 x 18.3 cm (7 3/4 x 7 3/16 in.)

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Zatlin 920

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.648
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Joseph Pennell, Catalogue of an Exhibition of Original Drawings by Aubrey Beardsley, exh. cat., Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, NY, 1923), no. 80
  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley and Victorian Sexual Politics, The Clarendon Press (Oxford, England, 1990), p. 75, fig. 35
  • Emma Sutton, Aubrey Beardsley and British Wagernism in the 1890s, Oxford University Press (UK) (Oxford, 2002), pp. 170-173, fig. 7
  • Linda Gertner Zatlin, Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonné, Yale University Press (U.S.) (New Haven and London, 2016), vol. 2, no. 920, pp. 82, 122-123, repr. p. 122

Exhibition History

  • An Exhibition of Original Drawings by Aubrey Beardsley, Brooklyn Museum, 12/19/1923 - 01/31/1924; Milwaukee Art Institute, 10/01/1924 - 10/30/1924; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, 11/01/1924 - 11/30/1924; Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, 11/29/1924 - 12/31/1924

Verification Level

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