JOHN WHITE ALEXANDER (1856-1915)
Lot 122

JOHN WHITE ALEXANDER (1856-1915)

Le Piano

Closed21 October 2022

Price Realised

USD 85,680

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JOHN WHITE ALEXANDER (1856-1915)
Le Piano
signed and dated 'John W. Alexander- 94.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
31 1/2 x 43 1/2 in. (80 x 110.5 cm.)
Painted in 1894

Edward Herbert Hall, by 1915.
Gallery, Greenwich, Connecticut.
William J. Dobri, Jr., Fairfield, Connecticut, acquired from the above, circa 1985.
Sotheby's, New York, 4 December 2002, lot 23, sold by the above.
Acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from the above.

Specialist note

The present painting depicts the accomplished pianist and composer Helen Hopekirk. Born in Scotland, Hopekirk debuted as a soloist in 1874 with the Edinburgh Amateur Orchestral Society and performed in concert tours throughout Europe and the United States in the decade following. She moved to Paris in 1892 where she likely encountered John White Alexander, who had been living and working among the literati and artistic elite. In this period, the artist was producing some of his strongest images of women, characterized by their elongated figures set against dimly lit backgrounds. The same year Alexander executed Le Piano, he was voted into the Société National des Beaux Arts.