L'Inspiration

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Prints and Drawings

c. 1893

Gustave Moreau
French, 1826-1898

Currently Off View: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Gustave Moreau
Title: L'Inspiration
Origin: France
Date: 1883–1898
Medium: Watercolor and gouache, with pen and blue ink, over traces of graphite, on ivory wove paper, wrapped and adhered on verso to wood pulp board
Inscriptions: Signed lower right
Dimensions: 299 × 230 mm
Credit Line: Restricted gift of Mrs. Wesley M. Dixon, Jr.
Reference Number: 1985.596

Pierre-Louis Mathieu, Gustave Moreau, with a Catalogue of the Finished Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings (New York, 1976), no. 405a (ill.).
Alan Artner, “Three Important Pieces Acquired by the Art Institute,” The Chicago Tribune (February 27, 1986), p. 9e.
Richard Brettell, French Salon Artists 1800-1900 (Chicago, 1987), pp. 103, 105 and 119 (ill.).
The Art Institute of Chicago, Treasure from the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, 2000), p. 219 (ill.).

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, “Gustave Moreau,” May 1906, cat. 55.
Kunsthaus Zurich, “Gustave Moreau Symbolist,” March 14-May 25, 1986, cat. 135.
New York, The Frick Collection, “From Pontormo to Seurat: Drawings Recently Acquired by The Art Institute of Chicago,” April 23-July 7, 1991, n.p., cat. 57; traveled to The Art Institute of Chicago, September 10, 1991-January 5, 1992.
Tokyo, Musée National d’Art Occidental, “Gustave Moreau,” March 21-May 14, 1995, cat. 18; also traveled to Kyoto, the Musée National d’Art Moderne, May 23-July 9, 1995.
Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, “Gustave Moreau (1826-1898),” September 28, 1998-January 4, 1999, cat 132 (ill.); traveled to The Art Institute of Chicago, February 10-April 25, 1999; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 7-September 9, 1999, cat. 132.

Galerie Allard et Noel, Paris [Paris 1998]. Esnault-Pelterie [invoice]. Baron Edmond de Rothschild (d. 1934), Paris [invoice]. Sold, Christie’s, London, March 22, 1983, lot 108. Sold by Margo Pollins Schab Inc., New York, to the Art Institute, 1985.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email .

Suggested Terms