Čís. položky 108


Jean-Honoré Fragonard


Jean-Honoré Fragonard - Obrazy starých mistrů

(Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)
Three Putti crowned with flowers,
oil on canvas, 82 x 73.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of François Marcille (Orléans 1790–1856 Paris);
by descent to Camille Constantine Marcille (Chartres 1816–1875 Paris);
his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 6 March 1876, lot 28 (sold for 5.250 francs to M. Verdé-Delisle);
by descent to the Collection of Jean Verdé-Delisle, Paris, until 2012;
sale, Aguttes, Neuilly, 27 March 2012, lot 57 (as circle of Jean Honoré Fragonard)

Exhibited:
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Exposition d’oeuvres de J.-H. Fragonard, 7 June – 10 July 1921, no. 1

Literature:
P. de Saint-Victor, in: Catalogue des tableaux et dessins formant la collection de feu M. Camille Marcille, Paris 1876, p. V;
G. Duplessis, La collection de M. Camille Marcille, in: Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 18e année, 2e période, tome 73, janvier 1876, p. 426;
R. Portalis, Honoré Fragonard, sa vie, son oeuvre, Paris 1889, p. 278 (as in the collection of M. Verdé-Delisle);
H. Mireur, Dictionnaire des Ventes d’Art faites en France et à l’Etranger pendant les XVIIIe et XIX siècles, Paris 1911, vol. III, p. 193;
G. Wildenstein, Exposition d’oeuvres de J.-H. Fragonard, exhibition catalogue, Paris 1921, no. 1, p. 17, pl. 1

We are grateful to Alastair Laing for confirming the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

The present work belonged to the celebrated nineteenth century collection of François Marcille, a collection which included many works by other French eighteenth century artists such as Boucher, Chardin, Perroneau, Greuze and Watteau. He owned no less than 25 works by Fragonard, including The Pre-Arranged Flight (La fuite à dessein), which is now in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The collection was inherited by Camille Marcille who was appointed president of the commission for the conservation of the Chartres museum in 1865, and by his brother Eudoxe, who became director of the Musée d’Orléans.

The present painting depicts three putti at play in a sky crossed by vaporous clouds. The putto at the centre of the composition, whose head is crowned by a foliate garland, spiritedly grasps the garland of flowers that rests on the head of the right-hand putto who is turned away from the viewer showing his little wings. The left-hand putto meanwhile hides behind a cloud. The soft painterly surface, the light palette of pastel tones, the rose flesh colours, the light blue of the sky and the delicate modulation of light and shade all display Fragonard’s pictorial ability, which combined to make him one of the finest exponents of Rococo art. Even the carefree and playful subject is typical of the painter’s preferred choice of themes. Paul de Saint-Victor described the picture in his introduction to the catalogue of the Marcille sale in 1876: ‘[…] le Groupe d’enfants noyé et comme pétri dans la lumière de Rubens [...] Le marteau des enchères va bientôt disperser ce beau cabinet, mais son souvenir survivra à sa dispersion. A chacun des tableaux [...] le nom de Marcille imprimera ce fin signe de goût, cette marque d’originalité et de qualité qui ajoute à la valeur du morceau la distinction de la provenance.’

The present Three putti can be compared to those of the six putti in the drawing by Fragonard that was in the Marius Paulme and Donald Stralem collections (see Sotheby’s, New York, 9 January 1996, lot 78).

During his apprenticeship in the studio of François Boucher, Fragonard often dedicated himself to the creation of decorative paintings for insertion into wainscoting or as over-doors, characterised by similarly light-hearted subjects such as allegorical scenes or sensual images of women accompanied by putti. Fragonard continued to specialise in this kind of painting even after he asserted himself as an independent artist, becoming one of the most celebrated exponents of the genre.

The present painting belongs to the artist’s mature production, when his art opened up to the influence of Rubens, as is made evident by his freedom of touch and the rose colouration of the present florid Putti. Fragonard might have been directly inspired by Rubens’ Three Putti in the sky in the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, perhaps known by Fragonard from an engraving.

Fragonard’s choice to dedicate himself to profane and amorous themes accorded well with the tastes of his aristocratic Parisian clientele. After training with Boucher, Fragonard travelled to Rome during the 1750s having gained the Prix de Rome, where he met Hubert Robert. On his return to Paris, he soon abandoned history painting in favour of the profane subjects for which he became famous, as witnessed, for example, by the canvas representing An Airborne group of Putti (L’essaim d’amours) conserved in the Louvre, Paris.

23.10.2018 - 18:00

Dosažená cena: **
EUR 234.800,-
Odhadní cena:
EUR 180.000,- do EUR 220.000,-

Jean-Honoré Fragonard


(Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)
Three Putti crowned with flowers,
oil on canvas, 82 x 73.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of François Marcille (Orléans 1790–1856 Paris);
by descent to Camille Constantine Marcille (Chartres 1816–1875 Paris);
his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 6 March 1876, lot 28 (sold for 5.250 francs to M. Verdé-Delisle);
by descent to the Collection of Jean Verdé-Delisle, Paris, until 2012;
sale, Aguttes, Neuilly, 27 March 2012, lot 57 (as circle of Jean Honoré Fragonard)

Exhibited:
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Exposition d’oeuvres de J.-H. Fragonard, 7 June – 10 July 1921, no. 1

Literature:
P. de Saint-Victor, in: Catalogue des tableaux et dessins formant la collection de feu M. Camille Marcille, Paris 1876, p. V;
G. Duplessis, La collection de M. Camille Marcille, in: Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 18e année, 2e période, tome 73, janvier 1876, p. 426;
R. Portalis, Honoré Fragonard, sa vie, son oeuvre, Paris 1889, p. 278 (as in the collection of M. Verdé-Delisle);
H. Mireur, Dictionnaire des Ventes d’Art faites en France et à l’Etranger pendant les XVIIIe et XIX siècles, Paris 1911, vol. III, p. 193;
G. Wildenstein, Exposition d’oeuvres de J.-H. Fragonard, exhibition catalogue, Paris 1921, no. 1, p. 17, pl. 1

We are grateful to Alastair Laing for confirming the attribution after examining the present painting in the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

The present work belonged to the celebrated nineteenth century collection of François Marcille, a collection which included many works by other French eighteenth century artists such as Boucher, Chardin, Perroneau, Greuze and Watteau. He owned no less than 25 works by Fragonard, including The Pre-Arranged Flight (La fuite à dessein), which is now in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The collection was inherited by Camille Marcille who was appointed president of the commission for the conservation of the Chartres museum in 1865, and by his brother Eudoxe, who became director of the Musée d’Orléans.

The present painting depicts three putti at play in a sky crossed by vaporous clouds. The putto at the centre of the composition, whose head is crowned by a foliate garland, spiritedly grasps the garland of flowers that rests on the head of the right-hand putto who is turned away from the viewer showing his little wings. The left-hand putto meanwhile hides behind a cloud. The soft painterly surface, the light palette of pastel tones, the rose flesh colours, the light blue of the sky and the delicate modulation of light and shade all display Fragonard’s pictorial ability, which combined to make him one of the finest exponents of Rococo art. Even the carefree and playful subject is typical of the painter’s preferred choice of themes. Paul de Saint-Victor described the picture in his introduction to the catalogue of the Marcille sale in 1876: ‘[…] le Groupe d’enfants noyé et comme pétri dans la lumière de Rubens [...] Le marteau des enchères va bientôt disperser ce beau cabinet, mais son souvenir survivra à sa dispersion. A chacun des tableaux [...] le nom de Marcille imprimera ce fin signe de goût, cette marque d’originalité et de qualité qui ajoute à la valeur du morceau la distinction de la provenance.’

The present Three putti can be compared to those of the six putti in the drawing by Fragonard that was in the Marius Paulme and Donald Stralem collections (see Sotheby’s, New York, 9 January 1996, lot 78).

During his apprenticeship in the studio of François Boucher, Fragonard often dedicated himself to the creation of decorative paintings for insertion into wainscoting or as over-doors, characterised by similarly light-hearted subjects such as allegorical scenes or sensual images of women accompanied by putti. Fragonard continued to specialise in this kind of painting even after he asserted himself as an independent artist, becoming one of the most celebrated exponents of the genre.

The present painting belongs to the artist’s mature production, when his art opened up to the influence of Rubens, as is made evident by his freedom of touch and the rose colouration of the present florid Putti. Fragonard might have been directly inspired by Rubens’ Three Putti in the sky in the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, perhaps known by Fragonard from an engraving.

Fragonard’s choice to dedicate himself to profane and amorous themes accorded well with the tastes of his aristocratic Parisian clientele. After training with Boucher, Fragonard travelled to Rome during the 1750s having gained the Prix de Rome, where he met Hubert Robert. On his return to Paris, he soon abandoned history painting in favour of the profane subjects for which he became famous, as witnessed, for example, by the canvas representing An Airborne group of Putti (L’essaim d’amours) conserved in the Louvre, Paris.


Horká linka kupujících Po-Pá: 10.00 - 17.00
old.masters@dorotheum.at

+43 1 515 60 403
Aukce: Obrazy starých mistrů
Typ aukce: Salónní aukce
Datum: 23.10.2018 - 18:00
Místo konání aukce: Wien | Palais Dorotheum
Prohlídka: 13.10. - 23.10.2018


** Kupní cena vč. poplatku kupujícího a DPH

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