Sale 2624




Lot 133, "The  Good Mother," by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, oil on canvas, 19 1/4 by 15 3/8 inches

By Carter B. Horsley

This specialized sale of "The Art of France" will be held following the auction of Old Master Paintings at Christie's New York January 25, 2012 and it contains several paintings by Jean-Honoré Fragonard as well as very good works by Pater, Hubert Robert and Corneille de Lyon and a wonderful painting by Louia-Léopold Boilly.

The cover illustration of the catalogue is Lot 133, "The Good Mother," an oval oil on canvas by Fragonard (1732-1806) that measures 19 1/4 by 15 3/8 inches.  The painting was a popular one for Fragonard and he made a watercolor version that is in the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida.  There is also a slightly larger oil replica painted by Fragonard that is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

"So vital in conception, graceful and effortless in design, and rich in color that it all but overflows with the happiness of life," the catalogue entry noted, "The Good Mother is the very model of French Enlightenment values."

The lot has an estimate of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 131. "L'Amour, said to be a Portrait of Marie-Catherine Rombocoli-Riggieri Colombe as Cupid," by Fragonard, oil on canvas, oval, 21 7/8 by 17 7/8 inches

Another superb work by Fragonard is Lot 131, "L'Amour, said to be a Portrait of Marie-Catherine Rombocoli-Riggieri Colombe as Cupid," an oil on canvas, oval, that measures 21 7/8 by 17 7/8 inches.  It has a modest estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 132, "Le Jour (Day)," right; "La Nuit (night)," left, by Fragonard, oil on canvas, 31 3/4 by 58 1/2 each

Lot 132 is an excellent pair of large paintings by Fragonard depicting a flight of putti playing in the sky by day and bedding down in the clouds at night.  Oils on canvas, they measure approximately 31 3/4 by 58 1/2 inches each.  The catalogue notes that "Despite the inventiveness and the designs and exquisiteness of their color schemes, Fragonard's pair of paintings owed an obvious debt to the masterpieces made by Boucher only a few years earlier for the Marquise de Pompadour, The Rising of the Sun and The Setting of the Sun (1752-1753), The Wallace Collection, London.  This lot has an estimate of $2,000,000 to $3,000,0000.  It sold for $3,666,500.

Lot 119, "Spring: Two Cupids," by Fragonard, oil on canvas, 30 3/4 by 35 inches

Lot 199, "Spring: Two Cupids," is a charming oval oil on canvas by Fragonard that measures 30 3/4 by 35 inches.  The catalogue notes that it was probably cut down from a rectangular picture.  It has a modest estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 116, "Head of an old man, after Rembrandt," by Fragonard, oil on canvas laid down on panel, 12 1/2 by 10 3/8 inches

Lot 116 is an oil on canvas laid down on panel by Fragonard that is a copy of the head of an old man by Rembrandt.  It measures 12 1/2 by 10 3/8 inches.  The catalogue notes that the painting is newly discovered and unpublished and is among the finest of Fragonard's tributes to Rembrandt, his favorite artist, and is one of 9 similar heads of old men.  It has an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 111, "A fete champetre," by Jean-Baptiste Pater, oil on canvas, 21 1/2 by 25 1/2 inches

Lot 111 is a superb fete champetre by Jean Baptiste Pater (1695-1730).  An oil on canvas, it measures 21 1/2 by 25 1/2 inches.  It was once in the collection of Lord Northumberland in London.  It has a modest estimate of $500,000 to $700,000.  It failed to sell.

Lot 125, "Washerwomen among Roman ruins," by Hubert Robert, oil on canvas, oval, 21 by 25 1/4 inches

Lot 125 is a very charming oval painting by Hubert Robert (1733-1808) entitled "Washerwomen among Roman ruins."  An oil on canvas, it measures 21 by 25 1/4 inches.  It has an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000.  It sold for $266,500.

Lot 144, "A trompe-l'oeil with a cat and a wooden log through a canvas, fish hanging from the stretcher," by Louis-Léopold Boilly, oil on canvas, 33 1/2 by 37 3/4 inches

One of the auction's most interesting works is Lot 144, "A trompe-l'oeil with a cat and a wooden log through a canvas, fish hanging from the stretcher," by Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761-1845).  An oil on canvas, it measures 33 1/2 by 37 3/4 inches.  It has an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000.  It sold for $842,500.

Lot 103, "Gabrielle d'Estrés and her sister, the duchess of Villars," by School of Fontainebleau, oil on canvas, 22 5/8 by 28 3/8 inches, circa 1600

According to the catalogue, Lot 103 "is most likely to be found in Francois Clouet's Lady in a Bath circa 1571 (The National Gallery of Art, Washington,D.C.)  "The sitters in this painting," the catalogue stated, "may be identified as Gabrielle d'Estrés (on the right), the mistress of Henry IV, and presumably one of her sisters the duchesse de Villars."  The oil on canvas measures 22 5/8 by 28 3/8 inches and was probably painted circa 1600.  It has a modest estimate of $120,000 to $180,000.  It sold for $542,500.  There are several other versions of this work including examples in the Louvre, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyons, the Musée du Chateau de Fontainebleau, and the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

Lot 101, "Portrait of the duc d'Etampes, bust-length, in a black tunic with a gold chain, white collar and plumbed black hat," by Corneille de la Haye, called Corneille de Lyon, oil on panel, 6 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches

Lot 101 is an excellent portrait by Corneille de Lyon (1500/10-1575) of the duc d'Etamples.  The oil on panel measures 6 1/2 by 5 1/2 inches.  It has a modest eistmate of $150,000 to $250,000.  It sold for $434,500.  The catalogue states that it is an autograph replica of one in The Wallace Collection in London and another in the Louvre.

Lot 134, "Portrait of Lady Ann Somerset, Countess of Northampton, wearing a floral dress with a lace shirt and a  blue hat with a red feather," attributed to Jean-Etienne Liotard, pastel on vellum, 23 7/8 by 18 inches

Lot 134 is an exquisite pastel on vellum attributed to Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789).  The subject is Lady Ann Somerset, Countess of Northampton.  The work measures 23 7.8 by 18 inches.  It has a modest estimate of $80,000 to $120,000.  It sold for $242,500.

See The City Review article on the Important Old Masters auction at Christie's New York in Winter 2012

See The City Review article on the Important Old Masters auction at Sotheby's New York Winter 2012

See The City Review article on the Important Old Masters auction at Sotheby's Winter 2011

See The City Review article on the Important Old Masters auction at Sotheby's Winter 2010