Alfred Stevens

Galerie Robert Finck, Brussels
Private Collection (acquired from the above, circa 1975)
Thence by descent

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This picture is recently restored. The panel on which it is painted is flat and stable. The paint layer is quite thinly painted in places. Some weakness has developed in the face of the woman on the left, and there is retouching here. There is a spot or two in the cheek of the seated woman, and some cracking has been retouched in the cushion under her feet. There is also some retouching in the side of the chair in which she sits. Other retouches can be clearly seen under ultraviolet light, mainly addressing cracking in the wallpaper around the crescent shaped ornament and a few other isolated spots. The work should be hung as is.
"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 present work is a variant of the artist's submission to the 1878 Paris Exposition Universelle (no. 219).