5. The Harp by Alice Ronner
Alice Ronner grew up in an artistic family and learned the tricks of the trade from her mother, Henriette Ronner-Knip. Henriette, best known for her numerous animal paintings, even painted the dog of Belgium's Queen Maria Hendrika. Alice, on the other hand, mainly devoted her canvases to flowers and fruit. But she too was held in high regard by the royal family. This is how she knew Queen Elizabeth, who visited her studio and collected her work.
Like most female Brussels artists of her time, she was a member of the Cercle des Femmes Peintres. This group was active for five years in around 1890 and organised four exhibitions including work by Berthe Art and Louise De Hem.
This exceptionally large work features a harp, on the table are dried flowers and a score by the harpist and composer Louis-Charles Ragué from Namur. The score is for a trio: harp, cello and violin. And indeed: the neck of a violin is protruding from behind the cushion. The white tablecloth lights up in a rather dark interior. Several pages of the score seem to have just fluttered to the floor, and a bow has been nonchalantly placed next to them. Can you also feel how these objects and the flowers afford the painting movement?