Anne Vallayer-Coster

Collection Prouvost ;
Vente anonyme, Paris, Palais Galliera, Me Rheims, 9 mars 1961, lot n°153, repr. pl. XXXIII ;
Vente anonyme, Paris, Me Marc-Arthur Kohn, 18 août 1999, lot n°417 ;
Vente anonyme, Paris, Me Marc-Arthur Kohn, 16 novembre 1999, lot n°34 ;
Acquis chez Maurice Segoura, Paris

E. Kahng et M. Roland-Michel, Anne Vallayer-Coster : Painter to the Court of Marie-Antoinette, cat. exp. Washington, Dallas, New-York, Marseille, 2002-2003, p. 204, n°45 

Connaissance des Arts, juillet 1961, fig. 1 ;
M. Roland-Michel, Anne Vallayer-Coster 1744-1818, Paris, 1970, p. 105, n°8, p. 113 (perdu) 

On the naked eye: The painting has been re-lined on the 19th century on a quality key stretcher. We notice on the back an old lining canvas. The painting has a light irregular varnish. The painting was originally oval, the corners have been added. We are missing 1,5 cm. (1/2 in.) in the borders comparing to the original size. The upper and lower right corners, in the added parts, had some lacks of pictorial material that have been grossly restored. Under UV light: We notice some traces of old varnish and some open cracks that had been restored (foliage on the right) and some very tiny local restorations on the background (on the left and on the upper part). The edge, the flowers and the vase are well preserved.
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« [Anne Vallayer-Coster] soutint constamment dans le genre qu'elle avait adopté, celui des fleurs, la haute réputation qu'elle s'était acquise et qu'elle disputait aux professeurs les plus renommés. » [1]. Cette artiste, agréée puis reçue à l'Académie royale, figure aux côtés d'Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun et de Suzanne Giroust parmi les rares femmes académiciennes du XVIIIe siècle français.

Peintre de nature morte ayant pleinement assimilé la leçon de Chardin, elle s'illustra également dans la peinture de fleurs dans la tradition nordique de Rachel Ruysch ou de Jan van Huysum qui connaissait un réel succès auprès des amateurs parisiens. Cet art de rendre les fleurs avec une précision de botaniste lui avait été enseigné par Madeleine-Françoise Basseporte, peintre du Jardin des Plantes.
C’est avec une grande simplicité qu’Anne Vallayer-Coster représente ce bouquet dans un vase transparent posé sur un entablement de pierre, une tige venant négligemment reposer sur le côté. Dans une douce harmonie de coloris roses, blancs et ocres, les pétales veloutés et les tendres feuilles de ce bouquet se détachent sur un fond sombre à l’aide d’un subtil clair-obscur. Loin de ses prédécesseurs nordiques aux éclatants bouquets où l’œil se perd, et avant les aquarelles de Pierre-Joseph Redouté d'une exactitude toute scientifique, Anne Vallayer-Coster traite dans notre tableau de la fragilité des fleurs avec la poésie du XVIIIe siècle français.

[1] Notice des tableaux de fleurs peints par Mme Vallayer-Coster (…) provenant du cabinet de feu M. et Mad. Coster, vente à Paris, 1824, introduction par Paillet.

“[Anne Vallayer-Coster] constantly maintained, with her adopted genre of flowers, a great reputation she had acquired and defended against the most renowned teachers.”[1].
This artist was short-listed then accepted into France’s Royal Academy, and was among the few female academicians during 18th century France that included Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun and Suzanne Giroust.

As a still life painter having fully assimilated Chardin’s lessons, she also was noted for painting flowers in the Northern European tradition held by Rachel Ruysch and Jan van Huysum who were praised by admirers. This art of rendering flowers with the accuracy of a botanist was taught by Madeleine-Françoise Basseporte, painter at the Jardin des Plantes (Parisian botanical gardens).

Anne Vallayer-Coster depicts this bouquet with great simplicity in a clear vase on a stone ledge, and one stem casually resting on the side. The soft color harmony of pinks, whites and ochres, velvety petals and tender leaves from this floral arrangement stand out against a dark background with a subtle chiaroscuro. Far from the Northern European predecessors with dazzling bouquets where the eye wanders aimlessly, and before Redouté’s watercolors possessing scientific accuracy, Anne Vallayer-Coster rendered the fragility of the flowers in our painting with 18th century French poetry.

[1] Note about flower paintings realized by Ms. Vallayer-Coster (...), provenance: the cabinet of the late Mr. and Mrs. Coster, auction in Paris, 1824, introduction by Paillet.