Attente (Waiting) — Alfred Stevens Postcard

Wrapped in a black velvet cape lined with white ermine, a young woman draws back a heavy gold brocade curtain to glance outside, her fur muff still in hand. A small white cat curls at her feet, and a bouquet of blue flowers stands untouched nearby.

‘Attente’ (Waiting) is built around a single gesture — the half-opened curtain — that turns a winter interior into a study of anticipation. Stevens returned often to this theme of women suspended between arrival and departure, indoors and out.

A postcard for anyone counting the days until someone comes home.