''Sleep'' is an oil on canvas painting by the painter

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (; 14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Ar ...

, created in 1867. A large painting, it is held at the

Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille The Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille (''Lille Palace of Fine Arts'') is a municipal museum dedicated to fine arts, modern art, and antiquities located in Lille. It is one of the largest art museums in France. It was one of the first museums built i ...

History

Presented at the Salon of French Artists of 1867, the painting was inspired by a verse from

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

's, ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

'' (II, 268). This painting demonstrates Puvis de Chavannes departing from the romantic tradition that marked his early work. It can be considered the first

symbolist Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

painting in French art.

Description

The scene depicts the rest of simple peasants. In the foreground on the right, an elderly woman and an old man, a woman and her child, a man and his son, represent the stages of life. On the left, a more indistinct group of figures seems absorbed by the semi-darkness. The reduced palette, with muted tones of beige, blue and pink, which only the setting sun illuminates, creates an atmosphere of torpor. It seems that the painting deals with the feeling of half consciousness, between waking and falling asleep, which drowsiness causes and which the viewer also experiences while contemplating the painting. Lille PdBA Puvis le sommeil esquisse

Analysis

Before making the large format final painting, Puvis created an unusual number of drawings and painted sketches, some of which were quite different from the final work. One of them, offered by Puvis de Chavannes to the painter Francis Auburtin, then by the latter's family to the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, is today kept in the

, on deposit of the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

. Puvis considered this painting his favorite work, and he created several replicas of ''Sleep'', drawn or painted, of smaller size. One of them, who once belong to French stockbroker Theodore Gadala is kept at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

.Metropolitan Museum of Art
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sleep 1867 paintings Paintings by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Paintings in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille