Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret

Possibly, Samuel P. Avery, New York
Mina Kirstein-Curtiss
Lincoln Kirstein, New York
Paul Cadmus (and sold: his estate, Christie's, New York, October 24, 2007, lot 139, illustrated)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is unlined and the canvas is still stretched on its original stretcher. The paint layer is cleaned and varnished. A few small retouches have been added to some cracks in the bright daylight sections of the window in the upper center. There are also retouches in the top of the curtain behind the screen, in some cracks in the rug at lower right, and in what appears to be a small vertical scratch in the wall beneath the palette in the center of the right side. The condition is very good. The retouching is somewhat broad. With the right approach, this picture will regain its charm and delicacy.
"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."

Long unrecorded and recently rediscovered, Bouderie offers intriguing new insight into Dagnan-Bouveret's early career. The artist, who had gained a reputation as a painter of Parisian life completed the work in 1880 at the age of 28. Rejecting the academic, traditional subjects favored by fellow students at the École des Beaux Arts, Dagnan-Bouveret preferred naturalistic themes inspired by the writings of Alphonse Daudet and Émile Zola. Dagnan-Bouveret's interests differed from many of his fellow students like the French romantic academic painter Gustave Courtois (1853-1923), presumed to be the artist depicted in the present work. With his thinning blond hair and bushy beard, the painted figure bears an almost exact resemblance to Dagnan-Bouveret's Portrait of Gustave Courtois (1884, fig. 1) as well as contemporary photographs.

Slumped on a tapestry-covered sofa, resting against several finely embroidered pillows, Courtois holds a well-used palette, brushes and a maulstick.  The painting reflected in the red-lacquered mirror closely resembles Courtois' Portrait of Mme Rochetaille (1877), while he is surrounded by additional tools of his trade such as a stretched canvas and a bottle of mineral spirits--- plus fashionable objets expected in any well appointed studio, from fine silk floral screen, Antique-inspired pottery, and bear rug.  At the other end of the sofa sits the enigmatic figure of a woman dressed completely in black. Given the setting, it would stand to reason that the two figures' relationship is as artist and model (the black costume could also suggest she is a mourning patron, commissioning a memorial portrait of a lost loved one). Yet they sit as far apart as possible, neither looking toward one another, or with any other easily identifiable connection. While it is yet to be determined if the present title of Bouderie (Sulking) was the artist's original, it does add resonance to the physical and psychological dissonance of the figures.  The stiff posture of the woman suggests she may be unhappy with the artist's likeness, her demands reaching an exhausted Courtois (who wears a slight, sly smile).

Though Dagnan-Bouveret and Courtois remained close friends throughout their lives, the present work suggests the different career choices made by the two artists. Beyond 1880, Courtois followed a more conservative path as a portraitist supported by wealthy patrons.  In contrast, Dagnon-Bouveret would continually examine the true experience and hardships of France's urban and rural peoples. The present work is a particularly fascinating example of the artist's early anecdotal scenes of Parisian life, which also included works like as Wedding at the Photographer (1878-79) or The Laundress (1880, and which also featured Courtois walking along the Seine with his companion and fellow artist Karl von Stetten).

The early provenance of the work remains unclear, though it is suspected that it attracted the attention of the influential nineteenth-century art dealer Samuel P. Avery, whose clientele consisted of many of the period's most powerful American collectors.  Interestingly, before its recent reemergence, the work was held in the collection of American artist Paul Cadmus (1904-1999), best known for his magical realism paintings that combined expressive physicality with a social critique of middle class and working men. Cadmus was apparently given the work by his brother-in-law, Lincoln Kirstein, the renowned philanthropist and arts patron.