Afternoon Tea (aka On the Terrace) 1875

Eva Gonzales’s “Afternoon Tea” (1875) depicts a woman in a blue dress enjoying a cup of tea on a terrace overlooking a Parisian cityscape. The composition is intimate, with the woman seated in the foreground, the table and her cup of tea the focal point. The loose brushstrokes and muted palette, reminiscent of Impressionism, capture the relaxed atmosphere of the scene. The view of the city in the background further emphasizes the everyday nature of the subject matter, a common theme in Gonzales’s oeuvre.