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GUSTAVE MOREAU | Le paysan du Danube
估價
60,000 - 80,000 USD
招標截止
描述
- Gustave Moreau
- Le paysan du Danube
- signed Gustave Moreau (lower right)
- pencil and ink heightened with white and gold on paper
- 11 by 8 in.
- 27.9 by 20.3 cm
來源
Duruflé Collection
Wildenstein, Paris, from whom confiscated in 1941 (ERR reference W160) and later restituted
Wildenstein & Co., New York
Acquired from the above in 1980
Wildenstein, Paris, from whom confiscated in 1941 (ERR reference W160) and later restituted
Wildenstein & Co., New York
Acquired from the above in 1980
展覽
Tokyo, Central Art Gallery; Osaka, Fujikawa Gallery; and Kobe, Fujikawa Gallery, Exhibition Honoring Fujikawa Gallery's 35th Anniversary: Gustave Moreau, October 26-December 12, 1974, no. 14
出版
Pierre-Louis Mathieu, Gustave Moreau: Complete Edition of the Finished Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, Oxford, 1977, pp. 152, 343, no. 268, illustrated p. 344
Pierre-Louis Mathieu, Gustave Moreau. Monographie et nouveau catalogue de l'oeuvre achevé, Paris, 1998, p. 370, no. 299, illustrated
Pierre-Louis Mathieu, Gustave Moreau. Monographie et nouveau catalogue de l'oeuvre achevé, Paris, 1998, p. 370, no. 299, illustrated
Condition
Pencil and ink on paper heightened with white and gold. The sheet is hinged to the mat in the upper corners. The work presents well and the medium remains fresh and vibrant.
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.
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.
拍品資料及來源
In 1879, Antony Roux commissioned a series of watercolors by the period’s most fashionable artists to illustrate Jean de La Fontaine’s Fables, including Henri Gervex, Henri Harpignies, Felix Ziem and Gustave Moreau. When Roux exhibited a selection of these in May 1881, Moreau’s contributions attracted the most critical acclaim, leading Roux to commission a further thirty-nine illustrations from the artist.
Fontaine’s Le Paysan du Danube tells of a German peasant, ambassador for his people during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180), whose impassioned and eloquent speech in the Roman senate earns the senators respect in spite of his haggard appearance. Moreau chose to juxtapose the universal image of Lupercal nursing Romulus and Remus (fig. 1), symbolic of the bountifulness and generosity of the Roman Empire, with the peasant who is depicted mid-speech while lamenting Rome's inability to supply her far-reaching colonies. Moreau describes his imagining of the scene:
I place this savage underneath the Roman she-wolf, which I took from the antique, suckling Romulus and Remus. She gives her milk, the she-wolf does, but Rome with its Senate fails to nourish the conquered provinces. With a melancholy gesture, sweetly remembering his country, of which he is the ambassador, the savage explains to the sated, pot-bellied wretches the woes of his people, at the foot of this great monument to Roman grandeur. What a contrast… In this faun covered with animal hides, at the foot of this allegorical animal, speaking to all these fastidious, luxury-loving sybarites. An hourglass stands beside him, numbering the hours of the assembly and of mankind.
(Moreau’s Holland-bound Notebook, as transcribed in Mathieu, 1977, p. 152).
While the group of sixty-four Fable watercolors Moreau created for Roux are held in a private collection, Moreau created four known variations of individual works, including Le paysan du Danube. This small number of modified compositions suggests Moreau's hesitation to replicate Roux's commission, and that the present work may have been intended for a specific collector. Moreau's careful reconsideration of details between this painting and the original in Roux's commission, such as modifications to the peasant’s voluminous robes and to the architecture of the senate, are also reflected in a preparatory drawing in the collection of the Musèe national Gustave Moreau, Paris (fig. 2).
Fontaine’s Le Paysan du Danube tells of a German peasant, ambassador for his people during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180), whose impassioned and eloquent speech in the Roman senate earns the senators respect in spite of his haggard appearance. Moreau chose to juxtapose the universal image of Lupercal nursing Romulus and Remus (fig. 1), symbolic of the bountifulness and generosity of the Roman Empire, with the peasant who is depicted mid-speech while lamenting Rome's inability to supply her far-reaching colonies. Moreau describes his imagining of the scene:
I place this savage underneath the Roman she-wolf, which I took from the antique, suckling Romulus and Remus. She gives her milk, the she-wolf does, but Rome with its Senate fails to nourish the conquered provinces. With a melancholy gesture, sweetly remembering his country, of which he is the ambassador, the savage explains to the sated, pot-bellied wretches the woes of his people, at the foot of this great monument to Roman grandeur. What a contrast… In this faun covered with animal hides, at the foot of this allegorical animal, speaking to all these fastidious, luxury-loving sybarites. An hourglass stands beside him, numbering the hours of the assembly and of mankind.
(Moreau’s Holland-bound Notebook, as transcribed in Mathieu, 1977, p. 152).
While the group of sixty-four Fable watercolors Moreau created for Roux are held in a private collection, Moreau created four known variations of individual works, including Le paysan du Danube. This small number of modified compositions suggests Moreau's hesitation to replicate Roux's commission, and that the present work may have been intended for a specific collector. Moreau's careful reconsideration of details between this painting and the original in Roux's commission, such as modifications to the peasant’s voluminous robes and to the architecture of the senate, are also reflected in a preparatory drawing in the collection of the Musèe national Gustave Moreau, Paris (fig. 2).