Lot 128: Studio Lunch

Henry Siddons Mowbray (1858-1928) Studio Lunch signed 'H.Siddons Mowbray.' (lower right) oil on canvas 8½ x 10¾ in. (21.6 x 27.3 cm.) Painted circa 1880-83.

Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, and elsewhere,
An American Perspective: 19th Century Art from the Collection of Jo Ann and Julian Ganz, Jr.
, October 4, 1981-January 31, 1982, no. 71.

Mowbray moved to Paris in 1878 to study with Leon Bonnat, one of the leading European academic painters of the time. While his education at Bonnat's atelier instilled a respect and understanding for the French and Spanish masters of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the artist maintained a willingness to accept and absorb new artistic developments. In Studio Lunch, Mowbray references Impressionism through his subtle use of light and bright palette to illustrate the fleeting moment of a casual interaction between artist and model. At the same time the painter carefully renders the objects, particularly those found on the table, in a realistic way. By focusing on the material nature of these objects and placing them in a loosely painted background, Mowbray skillfully combines the academic and the avant-garde.

Since the seventeenth century, artists have represented and interpreted the subject of the artist in his studio. Gustave Courbet's The Painter's Studio; A Real Allegory is an autobiography in which the artist depicts many friends and acquaintances from his past. While the room is filled with people, each individual appears to be isolated. This sense of alienation is also central to Rembrandt's Artist in his Studio, as the artist depicts himself standing alone in an empty room. In contrast, Mowbray's Studio Lunch alludes to the outside world through the inclusion of the artist's various props. Much of what was fashionable in Paris at the time appears in the composition including a Japanese fan, Chinese ceramics and brightly colored tapestries. Through the depiction of his diverse artistic inspirations, in Studio Lunch Mowbray portrays himself as an artist who actively engaged, rather than estranged from, the outside world.