Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Private Collection, Russia;
The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg;
By whom sold, Berlin, Rudolph Lepke, 6-7 November 1928, lot 382;
Dr. Victor Simon collection, Paris, by 1943;
Tony Mayer, Paris;
His sale, Paris 3 December 1957, lot 73; 
With Wildenstein Arte S.A, Buenos Aires (according to a label affixed to the reverse of the frame);
Anita Thyssen collection, Berlin and later Argentina;
Thence by descent in the family from whom acquired by the present owner.

Paris, Galerie Greuze, Greuze & Son École, 11-30 June 1943, no. 4.

The canvas is unlined and in good condition with a possible addition to the upper edge of approximately an inch. The paint surface in very good condition with only minor frame abrasions and no further damage visible with the naked eye. Inspection under UV reveals fine, minor retouching along the cobweb craquelure beside the ear, to the small crack in the curls on the shoulder and to the jacket. Offered in a carved gilt wood frame.
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This tender and intimate painting, as yet unpublished, is a consummate example of Greuze's skill in portraiture.   The soft flesh of the child's face is molded with broad yet proficient strokes, capturing the flushed, dimpling of the cheeks and the plumpness of the pursed lips.  The swift, zigzagged mark making of the rumpled jacket contrasts with the delicate handling of the hair, with its finely painted golden highlights.  Greuze successfully encapsulates the essence of the young boy; through the raised shoulders, lowered head of the pose and the intensity of the gaze, he conveys the palapable self-consciousness of the child as he sits.  The treatment and pose of the sitter here bears resemblance to that in the profile portrait of a pair, entitled Portrait of a Daughter of the Artist, which sold in an British provincial sale room in February 2006.¹ The model in the present portrait appears to be the same as the boy, scolded for playing his trumpet, in Greuze's famed Silence!, displayed in the Salon of 1759 (Royal Collection, London), permitting a tentative dating of the present work to that period.²

We are grateful to Dr. Edgar Munhall for confirming the attribution to Greuze, based on first hand inspection.

1.  Donnington Priory Sale, Newbury, Dreweatt's, 1 February 2006, lot 156, for £900,000 
2.  E. Munhall, Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1725 – 1805, Hartford 1976, pp.66 - 67, cat. no. 23, reproduced p. 67.