William Bouguereau

Mme. Duret (received as a gift from the artist in July 1890)
Thence by descent
Sale: Phillips, New York, May 25, 1983 (as Tête de jeune fille)
Private Collection, United States
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, November 10, 1998, lot 150, illustrated (as Portrait of Gabrielle Drienza)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Paris, Cercle de L'union Artistique, 1891, no. 26 (as Portrait de Madame Z)
Hastings on Hudson, New York, Newington Cropsey Foundation, October 12-December 18, 1999

The artist's accounts (July 9, 1890, as Head of [Mme] Zilin, Gabrielle Cot, gift to Mme. Duret, translated from the French)
Mark Steven Walker, "William-Adolphe Bouguereau, A Summary Catalogue of the Paintings," William-Adolphe Bouguereau, L'Art Pompier, exh. cat., Borghi & Co., New York, 1992, p. 73 (as Portrait de Gabrielle Drienza)
Damien Bartoli with Frederick Ross, William Bouguereau, Catalogue Raisonné of his Painted Works, New York, 2010, p. 265, no. 1890/06, illustrated

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has been recently restored. The canvas has been lined and the paint layer is stable. The only retouches that we are aware of have been applied in the background on the left in the center and in the upper cheek on the right side of the face. Both of these restorations seem to be very broad and the varnish is extremely sloppy and uneven. So, although the lining is good, the paint layer should be cleaned, retouched more accurately, and varnished less aggressively.
"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."

The subject of this beautiful portrait has been identified as Gabrielle Cot. Her father, the artist Pierre Auguste Cot, was both Bouguereau's contemporary and an important artist in his own right, having established his reputation in 1880 with the popular painting, The Storm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).  A letter from Bouguereau's mother to his daughter, Henriette, dated 1890, confirms that the artist was invited to dine with the Cot family on the occasion of Gabrielle's marriage to an architect named Zilin.  The present work was a gift from Bouguereau to Mme. Duret in celebration of this happy event (Bartoli with Ross, p. 265).