Jacques Laurent Agasse

By inheritance to Jean-Jacques Elisée Long-Jacobi, Geneva;
Pauline Long-Jacobi, Geneva;
Hausammann, Zurich.

Geneva, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Exposition d'Oeuvres du Peintre Genevois Jacques-Laurent Agasse, February - March 1930, cat. no. 58;
Geneva, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire; London, The Tate Gallery, Jacques-Laurent Agasse, 1767-1849, 10 November 1988 - 2 April 1989, cat. no. 66.

Record Book, "October 1833 Prt of a mother and two daughters small halflength 24 by 20; April 1841 Begun many years before. A family picture of mrs. Vyers and daughters..." (manuscript, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva);
D. Baud-Bovy, Peintres Genevois du XVIIIe et du XIXe siècle, 1766-1849, IIe série, Geneva 1904, pp. 124, 143;
C.F. Hardy, J.L. Agasse: his life, his work, Geneva 1905, p. 206;
L. Gielly, in "Musée de Genève, l'exposition Jacques-Laurent Agasse,"  L'Art en Suisse, March 1930, p. 70;
L. Gielly, L'école genevoise de peinture, Geneva 1935, p. 221.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has never been removed from its original stretcher and would benefit from restoration. The canvas is unlined and there is a fairly pronounced stretcher mark, particularly across the top edge, which should be adjusted. Under ultraviolet light, no restorations are visible except for a few spots in the face of the woman on the left and the forehead of the woman on the right. However, with the naked eye restorations appear to be visible above and around the heads and shoulders of the figures in the background. The painting is quite dirty yet it does not appear to be abraded, so cleaning will remove a good deal of dirt and the sloppy retouches.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This charming and intimate family scene is a rare group portrait painted by Agasse. Though inscribed with the date of 1831 on the reverse by an unknown hand, this portrait is listed in the artist's record book as having been started in October 1833 and finished in April 1841.

The 1830s were years of change for Agasse.  His great patron, Lord Rivers, had died in 1828 and his contributions to the public exhibitions were becoming fewer.  He ceased to exhibit at the British Institution after 1832 and, from that date until 1842, he sent nothing to the Royal Academy.  Though he continued to paint horses, dogs and animals, he increasingly turned to portraiture.  As with many of his sitters, the Vieyres were personal friends of the artist.  Madame Vieyres, née Anne-Catherine Perrachon, was married to Antoine Vieyres, a clockmaker originally from Geneva who, like Agasse, had immigrated to England.  Their two daughters depicted in this portrait are Elisa, the elder, and Marie Mélanie who married Jean-Charles Jacobi with whom she eventually settled in Geneva.