Lot 100: ALFRED MORGAN

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE CANADIAN COLLECTION

BRITISH, ACTIVE 1862-1917
READING BLUEBEARD

READING BLUEBEARD

measurements
30 1/4 by 25 in.

alternate measurements
76.8 by 63.5 cm

signed with initials AM and dated 1881 (lower right)

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Paul Sax Fine Art, Montreal
Private Collection, Canada (acquired from the above in November, 1961)
Thence by descent

NOTE

In the present work, a charming young girl sits engrossed in a book which almost overpowers her small frame; she is reading the popular tale of Bluebeard. Though it seems surprising to a modern audience, children of the 19th century were well versed in stories such as Bluebeard, despite their frightening content (Fig.1). This tale, and those from the famous collection written by the Brothers Grimm, contained often harsh life lessons, dire consequences for those still determined to misbehave, or ignore the warnings from elders.

Bluebeard is the story of a wealthy man who had several wives in succession. He was an ugly man, with a bright blue beard, and this made it challenging for him to find a wife. But his charm and incredible wealth made him a good prospect for the tale's heroine, who after a courtship agrees to marry him. He leaves her alone in her new palace, with the strict instruction that she may go wherever she pleases and entertain guests, but she must never enter one tiny closet among all the rooms in the vast house. He leaves her a key, instructing her never to employ it. Inevitably, she does, and the key is charmed, so that Bluebeard knows she has turned it in its forbidden lock. This crucial element of the tale is echoed in the painting; a shining key is evident just above the little reader's head. The secret revealed by her ill fated curiosity is the wretched fate of all of Bluebeard's previous wives, who our heroine finds piled, dead, in the tiny closet. Upon his return, Bluebeard swears that his bride will be rewarded for her curiosity with a gory fate, and that she will soon be able to spend eternity in the forbidden room herself, joining his other hapless victims.

This lesson may seem too harsh for its tender audience, but the story ends on a happy note: Bluebeard's wife is saved by her brothers, who charge in at the last moment to slay the evil tyrant. His wife is left with his inheritance and marries the poor boy she has always secretly loved.

One wonders at what point Morgan's sweet model has reached in the tale. Her calm posture and happy expression may show us she is still at the beginning, or that she knows already of the happy rescue that finally comes to the heroine at the very end.