Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Thomas J. Bryan (1802-1870), New York, by 1853;
By whom deeded in 1867 to the New York Historical Society, New York, inv. no. 1867.264;
Their sale, New York, Sotheby's, December 2, 1971, lot 125, for $425 to Rembrandt Art Gallery (as School of Jean-Baptiste Greuze);
With Rembrandt Art Gallery, Toronto.

New York, The Bryan Gallery of Christian Art, 348 Broadway (1852) then 839 Broadway (1853-1859);
On loan to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York (1859-1864);
New York, The New York Historical Society (1864-1867), and in subsequent exhibitions there until 1971.

R.G. White, Companion to the Bryan Gallery of Christian Art, New York 1853, p. 119, cat. no. 211 as Virginie, A Study;
Catalogue of the Museum and Gallery of the Art of the New York Historical Society, New York, 1887, cat. no. 440 as Virginie (A Study), by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (repeated thus in subsequent Catalogues
of the museum - 1893, 1915, etc.);
J. Martin, C. Mason, Catalogue Raisonné de L'oeuvre peint et dessin de Jean-Baptiste Greuze in C. Mauclair, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Paris 1906, no. 1367.

The canvas is tightly relined and the paint surface has been slightly pressed due to relining. U.V. light reveals retouching along areas of craquelure. One larger patch of retouching is present in the hair of the sitter. Some slight additions have been made to the outline of the hair which are faintly visible to the naked eye and are perceptible under U.V. light. Painting is in otherwise good condition with little other repairs made to the original paint. In a carved gilt wood frame with minor abrasions.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This Bust of a Young Girl called Virginie, a fine example of Greuze's late manner of around 1790, reveals the artist reworking a successful subject of some thirty years earlier - the highly-charged images of women in post-orgasmic ecstasy often known as La Volupté (see fig. 1).  With her head thrown back, her eyes unfocussed and moist, her mouth open, the present subject recalls these earlier images, though her breasts are more modestly covered and no extraneous details of furniture crowd the simple, spiraling composition.  The picture also recalls contemporary depictions by Greuze of the obscure St. Mary of Egypt, a subject of fascination to the artist around 1790, who perhaps saw in this reformed sinner a biblical parallel to his former wife.  In paintings and drawings, the artist represented St. Mary with intense expression and long tresses of hair that wrapped around her body, as here, like snakes.

A detail of the present work that clinches the attribution to Greuze (as do the hair and the eyes) is the rendering of the teeth.  Always a challenge to any artist (or sculptor), teeth require special tricks - here, a simple blur.  In this connection, it is significant that the compiler of Bryan's Companion catalogue of 1853, Richard Grant White, wrote of this Bust of a Young Girl, "It is worth while to notice here the power possessed by Greuze, of painting single figures with the mouth open, without making them ridiculous.  Only two or three other painters, Sir Thomas Lawrence among them, share this ability with him."¹  In another late work, Greuze used the same technique as for the teeth as here, probably running his finger over the wet, white and gray paint in that area of the portrait.

We are grateful to Dr. Edgar Munhall for confirming the attribution to Greuze based upon firsthand inspection, and for preparing this catalogue entry.

1.  R.G. White, Companion to the Bryan Gallery of Christian Art, New York 1853, p. 119, cat. no. 211.