The Light (L'Illumination)

Artist Alexandre Lunois French, 1863 - 1916

Date1893

MediumColor lithograph

DimensionsOverall: 23 3/8 × 16 15/16 in. (59.4 × 43 cm)
Matboard: 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineThe Sparling Family Collection

Object number2025.1.51

On View

On view

SignedBottom right corner below print in pencil: "Alex . Lunois"

MarkingsOn front bottom left corner below print in pencil: "no 51" On front bottom left corner: blind stamp of "L'Estampe Originale"

DescriptionColor print of a woman standing while holding sheet music. The woman is wearing a black wide-brimmed hat with a red ribbon sticking out from the top in a V-shape and a dress with a red/pink top and a black skirt. The top has a large black ruffle around the collar and poufy sleeves that extend out at the shoulders but taper in past the elbows. There is a brighter red pattern printed across top and skirt of the dress, with the top having a vine-like design and the skirt having a netting/floral design. Extended out in front of her, she holds a piece of sheet music with both hands. She is not looking at the music however, as her head is turned to gaze at something out in the distance on the left-side of the piece. She is leaning against a balcony/opening that has a black metal fence and a large orange/yellow ball hanging from the top left corner. A vine trickles down from the top right corner of the wall opening, behind the woman's shoulder. To the right, the wallpaper has another design on it like the one on the woman's dress, except this one is done in yellow and is completely floral. By the right-hand border, the side of a piano can be seen with a vase of flowers and red sphere on top.Exhibition History"French Prints from the Tobin Sparling Collection," The Hyde Collection, Hoopes Gallery, Feb. 14-July 26, 2026.ProvenanceBurchard Galleries, St. Petersburg, Florida; purchased by Tobin Sparling, Little Rock, Arkansas, January 24, 2010; given to The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York, 2025.