Henri GERVEX (Paris, 1852 - 1929) Portrait of the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens (1823 - 1906) Three pencils on beige paper Signed with the initials 'H.G.' lower left An original letter from Alfred Stevens in the mount on the reverse: "Dear friend, do me the pleasure of coming to see our work, 62 boulevard de Clichy, Gervex and I would be so delighted to have your opinion/a thousand regards/Alfred Stevens/10am to noon/2am to 9am". Portrait of the painter Alfred Stevens, black, red and white chalk, signed, by H. Gervex 9.64 x 7.48 in. 24.5 x 19 cm Provenance: Private collection, Brussels Exhibitions: Henri Gervex 1852-1929, Bordeaux, Galerie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Nice, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1992-1993, n° 17 Our drawing is a preparation for the Portrait of the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens, a painting dated 1884 and held by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Inv. 3594). The two artists knew each other well and collaborated on the "Panorama de l'histoire du siècle" (20 x 120 m) for the 1889 Universal Exhibition. Under their direction some fifteen other artists, including <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri-Louis_Dupray" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">Henri-Louis Dupray</a>, <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Picard_(peintre)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">Edmond Picard</a> and <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mathey" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">Paul Mathey</a>, help them paint this monumental work, which will be cut into around sixty pieces, shared between the shareholders of the société anonyme de l'Histoire du siècle created for its production. Henri GERVEX (Paris, 1852 - 1929) 24.5 x 19 cm Our drawing is a preparation for the Portrait of the Belgian painter Alfred Stevens, dated 1884, and kept in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Inv. 3594). The two artists knew each other well and collaborated on the "Panorama de l'histoire du siècle" (20 x 120 m) for the 1889 Universal Exhibition. Under their direction some fifteen other artists, including <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri-Louis_Dupray" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">Henri-Louis Dupray</a>, <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Picard_(peintre)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">Edmond Picard</a> and <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mathey" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: windowtext;">Paul Mathey</a>, help them paint this monumental work, which will be cut into around sixty pieces, shared between the shareholders of the société anonyme de l'Histoire du siècle created for its production.