(Versoul 1824–1904 Paris)
and another contemporary hand
Le Bain Maure, inscribed J. L. Gerome, oil on canvas, 82 x 65 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
Private Collection Italy.

A letter by Dr. Emily M. Weeks is available upon request.

According to Dr Emily M. Weeks, the present lot is the first, abandoned version of an important Orientalist composition by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme. The artist’s hand is clearly evident in the underdrawing and underpainting and in occasional worked-up areas, but the painting itself appears to have been completed by another contemporary (nineteenth-century) hand.

Several abandoned versions of this composition have been recorded. There are a handful of sketches as well, including a charcoal sketch which closely resembles the present work. These two works are the only ones in which the bather’s face is turned away from the viewer. In this scenario, the present work is the first version to have been attempted by the artist on canvas. A finished version of the composition, measuring 81.5 x 65.5 cm and also on canvas, is reproduced in Ackerman’s catalogue raisonné under no. 240.

The number of versions of this work that exist suggest that was is highly important to the artist. The final version dated around 1874-77 was reproduced by Goupil during the artist’s lifetime.
The present painting may be mentioned in the forthcoming revision of the catalogue raisonné as an example of other attempts to capitalise on Gérôme’s hand.