Not currently on view
In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of August 2026
FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG
The subject of the woman at the piano was a recurrent theme in Bonvin’s oeuvre. The pianist depicted here was likely Céline Prunaire, a 21-year-old musician who married the much older artist in 1860. Although the meticulously rendered composition celebrates the grace and propriety of the young woman, the happiness of the couple’s union was fleeting. Prunaire left the artist after fewer than three years, never to return. The pink carnation at her feet suggests a note of foreboding to the image, perhaps intended to allude to the ephemeral nature of music and sentimental bonds.
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François Bonvin — Vrouw aan de piano, op de rug gezien
Peter Ilsted — Lady Playing the Piano
Paul Gavarni (French, 1804–1866) — La Prima Dona
George Louis Palmella Busson Du Maurier (British, 1834–1896)
Auguste Louis Lepère (French, 1849–1918) — Etude a Quatre Ma
Honoré Daumier (French, 1808–1879) — If you knew how pretty 
Anders Zorn — At the Piano
Joseph Swain|James McNeill Whistler|Walter Thornbury — The M
Albert Besnard (French, 1849–1934) — Madame Besnard
Eugène François Marie Joseph Devéria (French, 1805–1865) — A
Jacob Maris — Girl at the Piano
Johannes Vermeer — A Young Woman seated at a Virginal
