The Corner of the Balcony c. 1877

Alfred Stevens, a Belgian painter trained in Paris, captured ‘The Corner of the Balcony’ using oil on panel. Stevens, like many of his contemporaries, painted scenes of fashionable, bourgeois women, reflecting the social values and aesthetic tastes of his time. Here, a woman is depicted on a balcony, holding a fan. The loose brushwork and light palette create an atmosphere of relaxed elegance. The subject’s gaze is directed away from us, inviting speculation about her thoughts. Is she merely enjoying a moment of leisure, or is she contemplating her role in society? These kinds of images often reinforced prevailing notions of femininity and class, yet Stevens’s approach sometimes offered a subtle critique of these social constructs. The woman is adorned, yet her pose suggests a certain restraint. What does it mean to perform femininity in the public sphere? The painting provides a glimpse into the world of 19th-century bourgeois women, inviting us to reflect on the complexities of identity, representation, and lived experience.