Major Rediscoveries in the Old Masters: Paintings - Drawings - Sculpture
The Old Masters: Paintings - Drawings - Sculpture sale brings together paintings by major figures of French art, including Jean-Honoré Fragonard, François Boucher and Jean-Baptiste Pater, as well as European masters such as Ribera, Juan van der Hamen y León, Jan I Van Kessel and Cristoforo Munari. This selection includes several important rediscoveries, foremost among them Immaculée Conception by François Boucher (€300,000-500,000). A major work from the artist's mature period demonstrates the freedom Boucher achieved in relation to academic conventions. Recently rediscovered, the painting has been linked to a drawing by the artist in the Louvre and to the Assomption in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.
La fête du village by Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841) is another previously unpublished work featured in the sale. Rooted in the tradition of 17th-century Flemish genre painting, this composition is revealed as a preparatory sketch for the celebrated painting The Alehouse Door, now in the Tate Britain, London, which made Wilkie the first living artist to be represented in the British national collections at the National Gallery. While the Tate Britain painting was acquired by John Julius Angerstein (1735-1823), the present sketch appears to have been retained by the artist and presented to George Watson (1767-1837), President of the Royal Scottish Academy, as attested by a letter from Wilkie preserved on the reverse of the picture (€20,000-30,000).
Unseen on the market for a century, an enchanting Tête de jeune femme by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) has not been publicly exhibited since 1957 (€400,000-500,000). Fragonard's characteristic virtuosity and freedom of execution are fully expressed in this portrait, whose palette recalls Rembrandt's Portrait d'Hendrickje Stoffels.
Sculpture is represented by several works from the collection of Ambassador J. William Middendorf II, including a figure of an apostle created in Limoges at the end of the 12th century (€20,000-30,000), as well as a magnificent cast of Cheval au passage, attributed to Antonio Susini after Giambologna (€150,000-250,000).
The Old Master Drawings section is composed primarily of works from the French school, notably an early drawing by François Boucher depicting Travail aux champs, a red chalk drawing by Hubert Robert, and a watercolour by Eugène Isabey representing l'Embarquement de mille volontaires sous la direction de Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) à Gênes, le 5 mai 1860.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SALES
