The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 17, 2025

Seated Woman Searching for Fleas

c. 1671
(Dutch, 1636–1672)
Netherlands
red chalk over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Sheet: 18.4 x 23.4 cm (7 1/4 x 9 3/16 in.); Secondary Support: 18.4 x 23.4 cm (7 1/4 x 9 3/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1966.239
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Considered mere nuisances for those living in close proximity to animals, fleas would only become known as carriers of such illnesses as the bubonic plague almost 200 years after this drawing was made.

Description

Born into a prominent family of Dutch marine painters, Adriaen van de Velde was admired as a landscape painter. He specialized in atmospheric pastoral scenes that feature livestock and rustic figures drawn from life. This intimate study of a shepherdess searching for fleas exemplifies the artist’s skilled use of red chalk to capture the effects of light and shade.
  • L. Suzor, Paris
    Léon Suzor, Paris (according to departmental cataloging sheet/card). [Otto Wertheimer, Paris]
  • Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    Netherlandish Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 10-December 31, 1989).
    Northern European Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1982-January 9, 1983).
    Seventeenth Century Netherlandish Graphics. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 27-August 1, 1982).
    Idea to Image: Preparatory Studies from the Renaissance to Impressionism. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 19-March 23, 1980).
    Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 9, 1967-January 1, 1968).
    Prints and Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 29-June 6, 1967).
  • {{cite web|title=Seated Woman Searching for Fleas|url=false|author=Adriaen van de Velde|year=c. 1671|access-date=17 July 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.239