Quais de Seine en nocturne

c. 1890

Quais de Seine en nocturne, c. 1890. Armand Point (French, 1861–1932). Pastel on gray wove paper; sheet: 38 x 55 x 2.5 cm (14 15/16 x 21 5/8 x 1 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2022.95 Algerian-born artist Armand Point became involved in the Symbolist movement—which combined formal experimentation and imaginative subjects—while working in Paris during the 1890s. This drawing is one of many in which he represented his longtime companion and model, Hélène Linder. Here, she appears silhouetted against the brilliant reflection of setting sun on the city’s Seine River with swirling marks and bold tones that suggest the mood of the city as day transformed to night. The walkways along the Seine River that this drawing depicts were a recent addition, constructed as part of a major redesign of Paris spearheaded by Baron Haussmann, a French official, during the mid-19th century.