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Le Concert (copy 1)
Entered January 2019

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

77 x 94 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Prélude au concert

 

PROVENANCE

Berlin, private collection.

Cologne, sale, Lempertz, November 16, 2002, lot 1131: “WATTEAU, ANTOINE . . . Le Prélude au Concert. Öl auf Leinwand (doubliert) H 77; B 94 cm. Provenienz: Privatsammlung, Berlin. Nach dem um 1714/17 enstandenen Gemälde aus der Sammlung König Friederichs II. von Preussen, heute in Schloss Charlottenburg (vgl. Kat ,,Antoine Watteau”, Berlin 1985, S. 358-62, Nr. 481). Vgl. auch das Gemälde ,,Die Freuden des Lebens” in der Wallace Collection, London. FARBTAFEL 77   17 000-“ The painting bought in.

 

REMARKS

This is a fairly exact copy of the painting in Potsdam, save that it is slightly larger. Also, judging from a photograph, it is clearer and brighter in color than the original and thus, perhaps, more satisfying.

 

 

 

 

Le Concert (copy 2)
Entered January 2019

 

Poland, private collection

Oil on canvas

66 x 61 cm

 

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Amusements In the Park

Fête Champêtre

Le Concert

 

PROVENANCE

Richmond, Doughty House, collection of Sir Francis Cook, 1st Bt (1817-1901). The painting would have been bought after 1868, the year in which Francis Cook began collecting pictures; see Elon Danziger, “The Cook Collection, its Founder and its Inheritors,” Burlington Magazine, 146 (July 2004), p. 445 note 10.

Richmond, Doughty House, collection of Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd Bt (1844-1920).

Richmond, Doughty House, collection of Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd Bt (1868-1939).

London, Leonard Koetser Gallery, c. 1958. A black painted inscription on the central transverse cross member reads: “Galerie David Koetzer A. Watteau,”

EXHIBITIONS

London, Koetser Gallery (1958), cat. 11 (School of Jean Antoine Watteau, Fête Champêtre).

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brockwell, Paintings at Doughty House (1913-15), 3:  57.

Cook, Pictures at Doughty House (1932), 92.

Ferré, Watteau (1972), cat. P. 28.

 

REMARKS

This is a copy of the left hand side of Watteau’s composition, except that it omits the leftmost figure. In the 1915 catalogue of Doughty House, the painting was described as “a pastiche founded upon motives derived from Watteau.” But, in fact, it is much more a direct copy than a pastiche. Although Sir Francis Cook may have bought this painting thinking it was a genuine work by Watteau, such optimism had waned by 1915 when it was classified as “Manner of Watteau.” In 1959 it was attributed to the school of Watteau. Ferré classified it as “genre de Watteau.” The present owner, unaware of the painting’s earlier history, attributes it to Watteau.

Any attribution of this painting to Watteau himself cannot be defended. The overall poor quality of execution prohibits this. The flat slashes of color instead of folds of drapery are far from Watteau. The meaningless shape of the violinist’s oversized red beret and the disproportion of his head to his body are further evidence of the painter’s lack of skill.

 

 

 

Le Concert (copy 3)
Entered January 2019

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

32 x 22 cm

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, private collection, c. 1959

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mathey, Watteau, peintures réapparues (1950), 50, cat. 131

 

REMARKS

This small picture copies the landscape and figures from the righthand side of Le Concert. Only Jacques Mathey assigns this painting to Watteau and explains its sketchy, freely painted technique as indicating that it was a preliminary study for the final painting. However, there are no known Watteau oil studies for his paintings. Those works, like this one, are too rapidly drawn and inevitably not by Watteau.

 

 

Le Concert (copy 4)
Entered January 2019

 

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

Dimensions unknown

 

PROVENANCE

Berlin, collection of Dr. Martin Schubart

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adhémar, Watteau réapparu (1950), under cat. 191.

Macchia and Montagni, L’opera completa di Watteau (1968), under cat. 179.

 

REMARKS

Adhémar, repeated by Macchia and Montagni, wrote of a poor quality copy of Le Concert in the Schubart collection.  However, it has not been possible to locate the painting.

 

 

Le Concert (copy 5)
Entered March 2019

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

68 x 74 cm

           
ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Concert dans le parc

 

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot, February 21, 1880, lot 37: “WATTEAU (d’après ANTOINE) . . . Concert dans le parc. A gauche, une jeune fille et un jeune musicien accordant son violon; près d’eux, un second couple, la jeune fille lisant une partition; deux enfants jouant avec un chien. Au centre, un jeune homme en costume rouge et blanc accorde une guitare, le pied posé sur un tabouret. Au milieu d’un massif d’arbres, on voit une statue de Priape; vers le fond une belle perspective animé par de nombreux groupes, puis un étang, et, à l’horizon, une chaine de montagnes. Belle copie ancienne. Toile. Haut., 68 cent.; larg. 84 cent.”

REMARKS

Although not illustrated at the time of the sale, the description leaves no doubt that the composition is Watteau’s Le Concert. Its size precludes it being identified with any other known copies.

 

 

 

Le Concert (copy 6)
Entered October 2019; revised June 2020

Whereabouts unknown

Oil on canvas

71.2 x 87.2 cm 

           

PROVENANCE

London, sale, Bonhams, April 10, 2019, lot 196: “After Jean Antoine Watteau / 18th Century / Le Concert / Private Collection, UK, since at least 1970s. The present composition is based on Watteau’s Le Concert now at Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam.  / 71.2 x 87.2cm (28 1/16 x 34 5/16in). / £2,000-3,000 / US$2,600 – 3,800”

 

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ferré, Watteau (1972), cat. P 30.

REMARKS

This copy of Le Concert does not seem to match any of the other known copies of Watteau's painting.

 

 

 

Le Concert (copy 7)
Entered September 2021

France, collection of Michel Jaffré

Oil on canvas

65.5 x 83 cm

     

           
ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Le Prélude au concert

      

PROVENANCE

Paris, sale, Hôtel Drouot (Brunel-Dejean de la Bâtie), December 6, 2018, lot 17: “École FRANCAISE vers 1800, d’après Jean Antoine WATTEAU / Le prelude au concert / Toile / Haut.: 65.5 cm; Larg.: 83 cm / Le tableau original est conserve à Berlin, en Allemagne. 3.000 – 5.000 €.”

 

REMARKS

This picture is a faithful copy of the original in Berlin, including its color and dimensions.

 

 

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